1 Corinthians 5:6 “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?”

I’ve taken up roller blading (AKA “inline skating”) as my latest “calorie burning” exercise of choice.

I’m down 22 pounds since September 8th and still have some additional weight to shed to reach my goal. So, I thought I’d add some extra exercise to my routine.

And I decided that I’d take up roller blading as that exercise.

I first roller bladed about 7 years ago, but blew out a knee (not related to roller blading) which forced me to give it up. My knee is healthy again and while my first few days at roller blading have been a bit rusty, I’m feeling good about burning some extra calories.

Now, I noticed something interesting as I was roller blading this afternoon. As I hit a tiny pebble in my pathway and began to stumble along, trying to regain my balance, something occurred to me.

.it wasn’t the BIG rocks in my pathway that caused me to stumble, it was the small ones.

I have *almost* fallen SEVERAL times over the past few days and each and every time this has happened, it was because one of my roller blades ran over a small pebble and it caused me to lose my balance and start to stumble.

You see, whenever a BIG rock loomed up ahead in my pathway, it was easy to spot and easy to avoid. It is those tiny pebbles that are much harder to see until it is too late that repeatedly tripped me up.

As I thought about that today, God spoke to my heart about some things and I realized that, spiritually speaking, the same principle holds true.

It isn’t the “big” things that usually causes us to stumble in our walk with Christ, it is the “tiny” pebbles that make their way onto our pathway.

Think about it: If an adulterous woman came up to a married man and just said out of the blue, “Let’s go have a one night stand”, that would be easy to spot and most times wouldn’t result in trouble.

But, when that adulterous woman flirts a little and then a little more and then a little more, and the married man flirts just a little bit himself and then just a little bit more . Soon that small pebble has tripped him up into adultery.

If someone came to you and said, “Go split your church wide open with some big scandal and cause as much division as you possibly can so the Lord’s will is not done,” you’d probably say back to them, “Are you crazy?!!”

But, when a small bit of gossip is passed to you and you pass it on to others and they inflate it and add to it and pass it on and then it hurts someone’s feelings who in turn says something ugly to someone else who blames it on the next person who gets upset and retaliates . That small pebble has created a big mess.

Those big obstacles in front of us, those obvious temptations, they are easy to spot and easy to avoid. It’s those small stones, those seemingly insignificant things that cause us to stumble in our faith and fall in our walk with Jesus Christ.

Little white lies. Gossip. Flirting. Anger over petty issues. Rude comments. Skipping just one church service. Not giving a full tithe, just this once. Doubting the Lord will provide. Letting our children break family rules. Watching inappropriate television.

These are just a few pebbles that can send us reeling.

Christian, we’ve got to be careful. Satan is sneaky. He knows what we can easily spot, and he knows what we aren’t even looking for. And I can guarantee you that he will be tossing pebbles in our pathway as often as he can.

Today, be on the lookout up ahead. Yes, keep an eye out for the BIG rocks. And steer clear of them.

But, even more than that, keep a watchful eye out for the pebbles that are so dangerous. Don’t respond in anger. Guard your tongue. Set your eyes on heavenly sights. Flirt only with your spouse. Enforce the rules of the house. Tell the truth.

Be careful out there today.

Because, the small things will cause you to stumble.

Jimmy D. Brown dailydevotional-785@royalr1.com