Just a little thing?

 When you start to bake, it's really important to pay attention to the amount of each ingredient that goes into the recipe. Just a little bit of the wrong thing can change the recipe or ruin it.  Just a little too much salt can ruin your whole recipe.  I remember as a kid making cookies and accidentally putting way too much salt. The cookies were ruined. No one wanted to eat them. Spiritually, the same thing is true. We can allow just a small thing to enter into our heart or our mind that will cause our whole heart and her whole mind to not be right with God.

Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

Song of Solomon 2:15 KJV

A little fox can  spoil the vine as mentioned here in Solomon. What this means is that a small thing can destroy something much larger. We might partake of something so small and not realize the full effect that it could have on our lives. The Bible tells us to guard our hearts for from it come the issues of life.

Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

Proverbs 4:23 AMP

What we allow to come into our hearts and our mind affects what we think and believe. One small thing can come in and create unbelief and doubt that changes the way we see ourselves and God. Sin comes mostly from unbelief. When we allow a small bit of unbelief or doubt to enter in, it changes our entire perspective.

Put away from you a deceitful (lying, misleading) mouth, And put devious lips far from you.  Let your eyes look directly ahead [toward the path of moral courage] And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you [toward the path of integrity].  Consider well and watch carefully the path of your feet, And all your ways will be steadfast and sure.

Proverbs 4:24‭-‬26 AMP

Just a small seed of unbelief can grow and affect a whole life. We must be diligent in guarding our hearts from anything that will take us away from the truth of who God is. We can see that we must keep our eyes looking directly ahead and our gaze fixed straight. Our ways will be steadfast and sure when we keep our eyes fixed on the truth of who Jesus is.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. There is no other way that we can live a truly successful and blessed life than to know Jesus as our Savior. Anything that comes in and tries to convince us that he is not the truth , we must put away and not allow it into our hearts. We must keep ourselves aware of anything that tells us otherwise, cast it away from us quickly and immediately. I recently read a story about him father who was trying to show his children this truth. He made brownies and they were so excited to have the brownies, but before he let them eat them, he told them he had included a surprise ingredient. He told them it was just a small amount. They probably would even notice it. He had included a small spoonful of dog poop. His children were shocked and said they would not eat the brownies. He said, "Why not? You won't notice it." They still refuse to eat the brownies and wondered why he did such a thing. He explained that just a small amount of something can taint and ruin a whole batch. His point was made that our souls are also affected by a small amount of any sinful thing that we allowed to enter. We must guard our hearts and our minds from any sinful thing, no matter how small it seems, that attempts to distract us from serving God.

 There's an old song that we used to sing as children that said, "oh be careful little eyes what you see." This song taught me at a young age that what comes into your eyes and our ears can affect our heart. It reminds me that we must guard our hearts and minds from the things that we see in here because it will affect us in greater ways than we realize. God knew this so he put it in his word. We can be aware to guard our hearts and minds. What enters our eyes and our ears should always be what will build us up. We  need to pray that God will keep us and protect us from all things. We need to ask God for Wisdom and discernment about what we listen to, observe, and partake in. We need to guard against little seeds of sin that may attempt to plant themselves and grow in our hearts. Rather, plant the Word of God and may it bring forth His fruit.