The Little Things
Scripture Reading — 2 Samuel 11:1-13
From the roof he saw a woman bathing … and David sent someone to find out about her.
2 Samuel 11:1
Most addiction problems seem to start pretty small. Before long, though, they catch us by surprise, leading us to wonder how we could have missed all the warning signs.
That was certainly true with David. His affair with Bathsheba triggered an epic-scale disaster for him, but it didn’t start out that way. It started small, with a stroll on the palace roof, a wandering eye, and a desire to “find out about” Bathsheba.
It was the spring of the year. For David, the king that God had anointed to expand and establish his nation Israel, this was his time for leadership. The kings of other nations would surely try to invade, so Israel’s king and his armies had to protect their borders.
But as David grew comfortable, it began to seem less urgent for him to head out with the troops. He had other people who could do that. He could stay back at the palace and— well, do whatever he wished.
David didn’t wake up one morning and impulsively decide to have a big problem. It started with a little thing, and it built up from there.
Are there little things in your life that have the potential to become big temptations, which could lead to big sins? What is the Lord asking you to do to head them off?
God, give us the wisdom to see the little things in our lives in which the devil wants a foothold. Help us to look to you for guidance—in all things great and small. Amen.
About the author — Ron Vanderwell
Ron Vanderwell recently became the senior pastor of New Life Church in New Lenox, Illinois. He has been a pastor for 22 years, serving as a church planter for the previous 12 years at The Gathering in Sacramento, California, and before that as a pastor in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ron and his wife, Deb, have three sons: John, Adam, and Jake.
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