"A Teeny, Tiny Mistake"
October 14, 2016
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:6
"I don't think something as small as this should be a problem."
That easily could have been in the minds of two southwestern Idaho crows when they settled down on a substation capacitor bank (that's a device which controls voltage), owned by Rocky Mountain Power.
If that is what the crows were thinking, they were wrong.
Let me tell you what happened. The crows landed and, in less time than it takes me to type this, a fire began. A separate piece of equipment designed to reroute the electricity to another location didn't do what it was designed to do. As a result, the entire substation went offline. More than that, 100,000 customers in eastern Idaho, western Wyoming, and southern Montana lost power for close to three hours.
And the crows?
Do you want to know what happened to the crows for having thought a small thing can't be a big deal? Rocky Mountain Power has told its customers the crows were "obliterated."
A few thousand years ago, the devil suggested to Eve that a small thing like eating a piece of supposedly forbidden fruit shouldn't be a problem. Then Eve, who had agreed the fruit did indeed look tasty, took some of it to her husband. She said to him, "I don't think something as small as this should be a problem, do you?"
Adam agreed with Eve, and they both ate of the fruit.
Now if they had been thinking eating the fruit wasn't a big deal, they were wrong.
Let me tell you what happened. Instantaneously, sin and death entered into the world. At the same time, the Lord's punishment about "dying if you eat of the tree" kicked into gear (see Genesis 2:16-17). Adam and Eve realized they were underdressed for the occasion, and God came looking for them ... and He wasn't pleased.
It took a bit for the Lord to get any kind of confession from His children, but eventually they owned up to what they had done wrong. Do you want to know what happened to the humans for having thought a small thing couldn't be a big problem? I can tell you: the Bible says they were condemned.
Oh, and it says one other thing. Unlike the crows who were obliterated, God gave Adam and Eve a second chance. He said He would send His Son, and that Son would carry their sins and fix it so all who believe on Him as Savior would be saved. It's a promise still in effect today.
This would be the end of this devotion if it were not for me wanting to take this time to remind you that when it comes to sinning, you dare never think a little sin is no big deal.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, may I be ashamed for the enormity of my sins and rejoice that Your grace and forgiveness are greater than all I have done wrong. Let my life be spent praising You for salvation, which has been given because of the Savior, in whose Name I pray. Amen.
