the Little Things.

I was recently reading, "The Noticer", by Andy Andrews when I came across this:

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'"Have you ever been bit by an elephant?" the old man asked. Henry shook his head. "How about a mosquito?" Jones offered. 

"Of course," Henry answered.

"You see what I mean?" Jones said... "It's the small stuff that'll get to you!"'
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I was not sure at first as to why this little part stuck out to me then upon some thought and analyzing I realized, "It's. So. True."

In the Christian community there is a common phrase, "When I fell into sin." Wrong. Absolutely, wrong. No one falls into sin. It is little steps. Maybe not all of those steps are sinful, but they are steps. How do I know this?

Experience.

Also, Scripture. Hebrews 12: 1b-2a tells us, "let us also lay aside every weight, and sin, which clings so closely..." Note the comma, in the original language and in ours as well, there is a break there, telling us that there is a difference between sin and hindrances.

So what "gets us"?
The small stuff.

The pushing aside of quiet times. The number of beers. The tv shows. The places we spend most of our time. The people we spend most of our time with. The spending (or gathering) of money. Our thought lives.

Are these things (or people) in our lives necessarily bad things? No! Not at all! But does it encourage you and lighten you? Or does it cause you to over-analyze yourself and others and/or situations?

Matt Chandler in his Philippians DVD (and study) series challenges you with this thought. "What stirs your affections for Christ?" For me? Honestly? Coffee. Movies. Books. Music. But, he then challenges you with this thought as well, "What robs you of your affections for Christ?" For me? Some of those same things. Example: TV and Movies with too much surface-y emotionalism or sex- or violence can. In fact, as an encouragement to you I will tell you that I chose to watch tv/movies only on the weekends so that I can focus more on reading, and oh, other humans. And Jesus. All that time spent watching unreal people live was robbing me of living my own life- and time with the Lord.

So today, I challenge you with this thought: There is a difference between sin and hindrances. And since you can not bring anything with you except your soul with you to heaven: what will you focus on while you remain here on earth? And remember, one step is one step... but the question is: and what direction are you going in?