Fresh pineapple chunks from last night's dinner seemed like the perfect breakfast treat. Did I want a whole bowl of them? Or would a couple of bites satisfy my hunger? I lifted the glass lid and took one yellow piece from the bowl. Before I popped the pineapple bite into my mouth, it slipped from my fingers and landed on the lower shelf of the refrigerator. As I retrieved my errant morsel, it felt like someone jerked the glass lid from my grip. Like a slow motion video, I watched it crash onto the concrete floor and explode in a thousand slivers. Flying shards pierced my toe and leg. Like tiny arrows they struck and drew blood. Fear kept me cemented to the floor. I dared not move an inch till I surveyed the space around my bare feet. All around me were tiny bits of broken glass. Some so tiny they seemed like grains of shiny salt.
An hour later I was still sweeping the floor. Slowly. Methodically. Intentionally and carefully, I surveyed every inch of the brown stained cement. I found pieces in the adjoining bathroom, bedroom and on the living room rug. Each time I took a step I felt a piece of glass pierce the sole of my foot. When I looked I could not see a thing, but if I pressed upon the spot, pain registered in my brain. My daughter came over, inspected the offensive spot and saw nothing; but she could feel it when she rubbed her fingernail across it. She gripped something with a pair of tweezers and pulled. The piece of glass was so tiny, it was barely a speck. Amazing how something so tiny could hurt so much.
Sin is like that. We have no idea the collateral damage one sin can do. We have no idea who will get hit by our initial act. While some things can be confessed and forgiven, quite often residual splinters are sent flying into various rooms of our lives...to family, to friends, toward strangers. We think what we do is not hurting anyone but ourselves, but all too often, our sin hurts others in ways we cannot see. We only know they are hurt when we rub up against them in the casual steps of life. We hear the irritation in their voices, we see the anger in clenched jaws. We feel a chill when we walk in the room; it cuts us like the tiny glass splinter.
It's not always easy to find the source of the pain others have as a result of sin's actions and words. As we journey on the course of life, we may need to stop and look a little harder to find the offending shard that pierced a heart and help remove it, so healing can begin. As Christians we have exactly what we need to help others. We can tell them about Jesus and He will give them His Spirit to help them with each shard. selahV
"Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted." Galatians 6:1
