Little Things

     When I turned to Christ I did it  for the Big Things.  The Big Things were the demonstrable sins in my life that were incompatible with (ahem) polite society, that is the accepted mores of my tribe.  And true to His word, the Lord freed me from the Big Things.  And how sweet that freedom is.  But here is the rub:  He did not stop at the Big Things.  He began convicting me on the Little Things as well.  You see, I came to Him “pre-convicted” in a sense with regard to the Big Things, because even the non-believers in my tribe demanded change.  But the Little Things?  No, I was not convicted as to them.  Nor did my tribe demand change with regard to the Little Things.  In fact, it is the other way around.  My tribe resists change of the Little Things.  What are the Big Things and the Little Things exactly?  Well, I am not going to say—for two reasons.  First, whether a Thing is Big or Little depends wholly on  the identity of the tribe to which one belongs.  Thus, the Big/Little of a tribe of pimps is quite different than the Big/Little of a tribe of accountants.  Second, the Lord cares not for man’s attempt to divide disobedience to His Law into neat piles of Big and Little.  His Law is love and we are either with Him or against Him.   

     So, here is my struggle this cold morning with conviction over some Little Things.  Paul tells us that “among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.  Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.” Ephesians 5:3-4.  Since obscenity, foolish talk and coarse joking takes up about 85% of my conversation base on any given day, how can that stuff be Big Things?  I mean, what is wrong with a little manly banter when the ladies and kids are  out of the room?  Nothing is wrong with it, except that my Lord says not to do it.  So, I have the free choice of all who are indwelled with Him.  I can either obey because I love my savior and am eternally grateful for his relationship with me and His sacrifice on the cross, or I can hold on these Little Things because they are good to go with my tribe.  The choice is mine.