Dancing with Ants, Wrestling with Gators

Which are worse - big sins or little sins?  The answer to this theological conundrum came to me while dancing with some fire ants the other day. Allow me to explain.

I love to fish and I love to fish in Florida. It's bass heaven. However, there are two problems, one big and one little, both are significant - gators and fire ants. The gators are pesky, constantly making runs for my lure. The fire ants are pesky, swarming my unsuspecting size 16 feet, causing me to do an impressive version of  "River Dance." It's amazing how fast one can learn Irish dancing with the right motivation.

Common sense says gators are more dangerous. They're big, nasty, and have really sharp teeth. Surprisingly, the fire ants pose more of threat. Each year more people die from allergic reactions from the bites of fire ants than die from gator attacks. In my 15 years of fishing in Florida, I've never been bitten by a gator. I can't count the number of times I've been bitten by fire ants.

Back to the sin question. Like gators, big sins seem more dangerous. They're dramatic. They inspire fear. And yes, should they get hold of us, they can do some serious damage. And yet, the small sins bring greater destruction. Like fire ants, small sins are seldom noticed. They seem insignificant. But man, do they ever hurt. It's not one or two bites that do the damage, but the repeated bites from ant after ant, from sin after sin. The damage is accumulative, and sometimes is deadly.

Here's a suggestion - avoid the gators and avoid the fire ants. Avoid the big sins and avoid the little sins. They all are bad news.

"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace."    ~Romans 6:11-14

Leave a comment. Big sins or little sins - which are worse? What's your opinion?