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I heard that if you place a frog in boiling water he would immediately jump out to save its life. Well, that part doesn’t surprise me, but interestingly if you place the frog into cool water and heat the water gradually, he will swim around quiet happily until he dies from the hot water.
That's the way Satan deals with us sometimes. He will work so slowly and gradually that we often will not even notice that he is up to something. I believe he especially deals with devoted Christians in this way. He knows he can't come straight out with temptation and cause a strong Christian to cheat someone, commit adultery, or some other sin that we as humans think of as being a "big" sin; so he will start out subtle. He knows it would be too much of a challenge for him to try and get person to use the most profane and ungodly language but he might try to make such a person say just a "slight" off color word when they mash their finger. Then he will do it again and again until the person is comfortable with using that word and then he may begin to work on causing that person to use an even more offense word. The next thing you know, this person is not recognizable as a Christian and that is Satan's ultimate goal for a Christian, to destroy their testimony.
Small things that seem harmless can quickly grow into very destructive things. The flame of a candle is not very frightening, but feed that flame and it can quickly become a roaring forest fire destroying everything in it's path and even become a killer.
Snow seems so fragile when you look at a single flake or even when you hold a handful of it you can easily squeeze it in your hand and it will crumble. Enough snow however can create an avalanche capable of uprooting trees, toppling buildings and taking life. Sin is that way too. It can start small and if not placed under the blood of Christ through repentance, it can build into something that destroys.
Therefore we must try to keep ourselves spotless; not just fairly clean, or what we perceive to be clean enough. God's standard is perfection and that is the mark we are supposed to press toward. Yes, sin will still creep in at times and no, we are not perfect this side of Heaven, but that does not excuse us from trying to be perfect. We will fail and come short, but by trying to be spotless we will be cleaner than we would be if we were content and satisfied with ourselves. As a result of pressing toward that mark of perfection we will be a stronger Christian, we will have more peace, more power with God, we will be a better witness, we will be in a better position to have our prayers answered and receive the blessings of God.In a nutshell, be sensitive to those seemingly small things that deep in your heart; that by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, you know are not pleasing to God.
Carl
© Copyright 2006 Carl Light (Copy as is with reference to source with permission)
