The Devil Is In The Details
Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? – 1 Corinthians 5:6.
It was just a little mistake, a little typing error that could cost UBS Warburg (a financial services firm) over $100 million. A trader for the company typed a sell order of 610,000 shares for 16 yen each, instead of 16 shares at 610,000 yen. The conversion rate for a dollar to yen is currently 1 to 132.7. So instead of selling 16 shares for $287 per share, the trader obligated the company to sell 610,000 shares for pennies each, which would still cost them $287 per share. The devil does appear to be in the details!
The apostle Paul points out, that only a little leaven is enough to leaven the whole. Leaven is yeast that will make bread dough rise, and leaven is symbolic of sin. Paul is using leaven to refer to known sin, which the church in Corinth had allowed. Known sexual sin, such as was present among the members of the church at Corinth, could not be tolerated. To protect the whole, this blatant sinfulness had to confronted, and excised.
Most of us would say that this only makes sense, and that the church must be protected from this evil. However, it can also be applied to our lives individually. Only a little leaven in our lives, is enough to contaminate the whole. Only a little sin left unconfessed and tolerated in our lives, can result in a lack of spiritual growth, and even spiritual regression. Because if we will tolerate one sin, then it is not that hard to tolerate another sin, and then another, and then another….
Do you have a little leaven in your life? The apostle says, “Therefore purge out the old leaven (1 Corinthians 5:7a).” Why not even now confess (1 John 1:9) those little sins to the Lord, and allow Him to purge them from your life? Get the devil out of the details of your life!
(The little details in your life can cause sin to run rampant.)