Because of sin we live in a broken world. We see the effects of sin all around us and in everything that attempts to lead us astray.
Victoria’s Secrets catalogs.
Old people writing checks at the grocery store.
The Playstation 4.
Sleeping in.
Star Wars pinball on the iPad.
The world is full of people, places and things that can pull us away from God. Most of these are not evil in and of themselves. They become detrimental, though, when we allow them to influence our lives and our choices too much.
The situation is even scarier when we don’t realize that we’re being pulled away.
For years I misspelled the word definitely. I spelled it definately. But, like it just did, Microsoft Word corrected the mistake. The technology of spell check was correcting errors I didn’t even know I was making. Since I didn’t see a red line beneath any words, I just assumed that I spelled everything correctly, when I in fact had not.
Technology was pulling me away from being a good speller and I didn’t even know.
Technology can also pull us away from God without us ever knowing. There are lots of people, places and things that can pull us away from God without us knowing.
We know that big, visible, egregious sins pull us away from God. It’s much harder to recognize the small sins that pull us away from God. It’s much harder to recognize the apparently good things that pull us away from God.
It’s hard to see that continually disobeying God’s command to rest and recognize Sabbath can pull us away from God. We may not feel it after one week or four, but slowly the need to keep pushing without taking a break will lead us astray.
It’s hard to see that engaging with friends through social media can pull us away from God. We can get so excited about the connections we’re forming and maintaining through social media, that we stop being present with God.
I’m not worried about one giant sin that’s going to pull me away from God. I’m worried about the small sins of omission and little ways of keeping God from getting too close. I’m worried about those little things building up over time, slowly pulling me away from God. I’m worried about one day realizing I’m miles from God and finally seeing the thousands of little steps that got me there.
I definitely don’t want to get to that place. I even definately don’t want to get to that place. We just need to be mindful of our steps, no matter how small, and where they’re leading us.
How have you kept little or good things from leading you astray?
I remember the moment you found out. We were chatting on AIM and I was saying the word definitely a lot. I apologized for using the word too much and you said it was fine as long as I spelled it correctly. I told you “definitely” was the correct spelling, not “definately,” and your life was forever improved. You’re welcome.
I’m eternally grateful.
what’s wrong with old people writing checks at the store. they have to eat too you know