It's Just a "Little" One!

There's a children's ditty we've all heard, one said to date back centuries. It goes:

"For want of a nail, the shoe was lost;

For want of a shoe, the horse was lost;

For want of a horse, the rider was lost;

For want of a rider, the message was lost;

For want of a message, the battle was lost;

For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost;

And all for want of a horseshoe nail."

While it's a stretch to think that a nail lost from a shoe should bring such grave disaster as in the child's verse, it does spotlight a truth, that even "little" things can set off chain reactions that end in disastrous consequences.

Just. Like. Sin.

Twas but a little sin that lost the kingdom for King Saul. After all, who would know that he didn't follow God's directives down to the letter? Now, on top of that, he found himself impatient for the appearance, the support, of God's prophet. How can a little impatience be "wrong"? But unchecked, his impatience impelled him to step up the ante, to take on the role of priest. He offered up sacrifice to God, something that was solely the purview of dedicated priests. It started with one little sin ... but it didn't stop there.

To impatience and disobedience he added lying. When the long awaited prophet appeared, Saul felt compelled to hide his disobedience. Yes, he asserted. He had in fact done as God had requested. He had killed all the cattle. But well does Scripture say, "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23). "What is that lowing I hear?" asked the prophet. Oops.

Caught red-handed, Saul now continued to add to his transgressions. He minimized his sin, giving it an "I am doing something godly" spin, to which he added shifting blame. He claimed, "The people saved the best of the animals to sacrifice to God." But God had not said to save any animals. He had said to kill them, every one. As king, it was Saul's responsibility to make sure God's mandates were carried out. (You can read this sad story in 1 Samuel 15.)

At every question posed by the prophet, God was giving Saul an opportunity for repentance. He failed to take the cues. Instead, he kept adding to his egregious actions. And for want of repentance, for want of recognition that he had failed God, he literally lost the kingdom—as well as his life and that of his sons. For want of a nail ... The truth is, there is no such thing as a "small" sin.

The very laws of physics, those laws set in place by the Creator, dictate that there are no static systems. Even at the most basic molecular level, atoms are constantly moving, shifting, changing. There is constant flux, constant movement. The same law applies in God's economy, meaning that sins do not stay little. They move, they shift, they take on a life of their own, they grow.

There was a reason why Paul wrote, "Looking diligently ... lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled" (Hebrews 12:15). Sins do not stay static. If not dealt with, repented of, they begin to grow and escalate, creating a veritable web of sin.

We see this same story repeated time and again in scripture. Adam, after engaging in disobedience to God's edict, gets called into account. When God posed the question, "Did you eat of the tree of which I told you not to eat?" He wasn't asking for a point by point chronology of what had taken place at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God is God. He is omniscient. He already knew what Adam had done. Then why ask the question? Because in His love and compassion, He was giving Adam a choice opportunity to fess up and repent. What would have happened if Adam had actually fallen on his knees and begged God for forgiveness? We'll never know, because he didn't take the gift. Instead, true to the "sin grows" precept, he added sin on top of sin as he scrambled to shift blame.

Later, son Cain offered up a sacrifice to God that was wanting.  Though scripture does not reveal the specifics, in some way God made that sad fact clear. His brother Abel's sacrifice was acceptable, but not his. Since God is just, we know there had to be something about that sacrifice that didn't quite add up. Did Cain offer up left overs, something less than his best? Was the sacrifice itself okay but his attitude begrudging, not wanting to give a heartfelt offering to God? Whatever it was, it was enough to stamp Cain's sacrifice as rejected. It is then that God asked Cain a curious question. "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin lieth at the door." Yes, God was calling Cain into account. But He was also clearly saying, "If you acknowledge that what you have done is wrong, if you repent and correct your ways, all will be well." But did he take the opportunity? Sadly, he did not.

The next thing we know, Cain achieves the dubious distinction of being the first murderer on the face of the earth. He kills his brother Abel. Again we see God asking Cain a curious question. "Where is your brother?" Of course God knew where Abel was. Of course He knew that Cain had murdered him. But in His great love and compassion, love that extended even to the murderous Cain, He was giving him an opportunity to say, "God, I messed up. I let anger take ahold of me and I did my brother in." But he didn't take the gift. He held firm in his rebellion, choosing not to seek God's face. He carried the resulting curse to his grave (Genesis 4:1-15).

For want of a nail ... it is human tendency to minimize one's sins. It is human tendency to give them some kind of positive spin. But our ways will not bring God's blessings.

Corrie Ten Boom tells the story of meeting a Ravensbruck guard after the end of World War II, after her liberation from that concentration camp. She had been ministering to the emotionally wounded from the war and had come to realize that the key to recovery seemed to lie in forgiving those who had hurt them. Yet when she met that guard and he extended his hand to shake hers, she couldn't lift her hand to his. The weight of all he had done as a guard in that camp of horrors stood between her and forgiveness. In that moment of decision, she prayed and asked God to help her do what she could not. And He did. He helped her shake that guard's hand, and as she did, a wave of love for that man, a divine love solely from God, swept over her. She could have dug her feet in her sin of unforgiveness and been a Cain or Adam or Saul. Instead, she chose Jesus.

May we choose so also.

"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions ..." (Psalm 51:1-3).

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).