IT DOESN’T TAKE MUCH

“A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”  Galatians 5:9 (NKJV)

My fiance was recently perplexed with the proper way to dispose of a malfunctioning heat pump thermometer.  It was one of the old kind of thermometers that used mercury.  Mercury can be very hazardous if ingested.  In her search to find out the best way to safely dispose of the mercury-containing instrument, she discovered that it does not take much mercury to cause a lot of trouble.  In fact, just 20 grams of mercury, about the weight of four American nickels, will contaminate over 2.5 million gallons of water!  The plants, fish and drinking water would be contaminated and unusable for a long, long time.

According to Joshua 7, while the Israelites were destroying Jericho, Achan took a Babylonian garment, 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold to hide in his tent.  Before God sent the Israelites into battle, He warned them that everything in the city was accursed and was to be destroyed.  They next attacked the city of Ai, and were humiliated by being turned back.  In addition, 36 men lost their lives and the “hearts of the people melted and became like water” (Joshua 7:5).  It was discovered that the sin of one man was enough to cause all this trouble.  Because of Achan’s transgression, he, all of his possession and all of his family were stoned then burned to purge the sin from the nation of Israel.

Amazing enough as it seems, the single sin of a single man was enough to cause the death of 36 men, hamper the reputation of God’s chosen people, and fill the hearts of millions of people with fear!

It doesn’t take much yeast to cause an entire loaf of bread to rise.  Just a tiny amount of yeast will work in about two to three cups of flour, making it larger than it would have been before.  Just a little bit will cause a drastic change in the whole part.

Such is the case of sin in our lives if it is not dealt with appropriately.  Paul wrote the letter to the churches in Galatia because some Judaizers were challenging the doctrine of justification by faith, favoring a faith that was more legalistic.  It did not take much influence to cause the churches there to sway from the truth.  In fact, Paul asks them, “Who hindered you from obeying the truth” in verse 7.  The same warning, “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” is repeated in I Corinthians 5:6 when Paul chastises the church for its sexual immorality.

When sin is left alone and is allowed to do its work, it will ultimately destroy the testimony of the church and make the attitude of millions dismal.  We only need to examine the sin of prominent church leaders from the last 25 years to see how sin that is not eradicated can cause such problems.  Even today, people who do not attend church will point out these indiscretions to present a smokescreen when being presented the gospel.

We must each examine ourselves deeply to make sure that we have no unconfessed sin and that we have totally turned our lives over to God.  Anything less is unacceptable to a holy, almighty God.