The worms are biting!
A workman on a construction crew, each morning as he drove to work, waved and spoke to a young boy at a fishing spot.
One day, when he asked if the fish were biting, he received a strange reply: “The FISH aren’t biting, but the WORMS sure are!”
When he pulled in for petrol a little later, he jokingly told the attendant about the boy’s strange reply. The man laughed briefly, but suddenly a look of horror crossed his face and he dashed to his truck and raced off. He was the boy’s father. Sadly, he arrived too late: the boy was dead. The boy, digging for bait, had mistaken a nest of baby rattle snakes for worms.
Unknown to many, baby rattle snakes are born with their full venom.
This is a sad but true story to illustrate a point. Things that so often SEEM harmless are full of poison.
What about the “white” lies? and the “little fibs”? And how many more do they lead to? Someone is usually hurt by them!
What about the little bit of “harmless” gossip we listen to and pass on? Gossip can be deadly. It can assassinate a person’s character.
What about the harsh words and temper tantrums we have and then ignore the hurt we have caused by them?
What about a little “harmless flirtation” which gets out of hand and leads to marital problems?
The list could go on and on and on.
OK I’m going to use Christian terms because I am a Christian and I believe the Bible to be the very Word of God, but whether or not you agree on the basis of my Christian belief, I am sure you will accept the logic of the above illustration I have given.
Nowhere in the Bible is sin categorised into big sins and little sins, or mortal sins and venial sins. In the Bible, sin is sin: full stop, period, end of story. Jesus classed being angry with someone as equivalent to murder. He classed a lustful look as equivalent to adultery.
Just as the “worms” in this sad illustration were biting, so will sin and sin will reap its rewards. I can already hear some say that they like the rewards brought by sin, but as one who has been there and done that, I can tell you those rewards will never fully satisfy. That is why there is a continual seeking for something more. And never forget that sin brings its inescapable, eternal reward!
I lived that life, but for the last 52 of my 74 years I have found the complete and lasting satisfaction of a life surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ, my sin Bearer, my Saviour.
Do you agree that “from little things, big things grow”?
Do you agree that so-called “little” sins (wrongs) can do as much harm as bigger ones?
Are “white lies” ever justified?
MEETING IN THE CLOUDS 
This worm story is a fake legend that has been going around for years. If a boy had been bitten by baby rattle snakes (one would be more than enough, but multiple?), he would have been showing major signs of nearing death already when the stories “construction” worker showed up (in another story, it’s a park ranger…this must happen often I guess?). Somehow the kid is fine, and then slowly dies. I have seen rattle snake bites, the venom seriously injures the flesh in the area of the bite, causing major discoloration. Anyway, it’s a fanciful legend, and people keep propagating this thing for whatever reason as though it is real. Pay attention to the fact that it is the boy’s father the guy talks to, the father drives off without saying to call an ambulance, or that he believes that they were rattle snakes (lots of nice dramatic story building here).
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Powerful!
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How ironic! For the last couple of days, I have been thinking about writing a blog about this very subject. So many times, people get caught up in the business of categorizing sin! The Bible tells us, that ALL unrighteousness is sin. There are no big sins or little sins! As you so eloquently stated, SIN is SIN! It’s amazing how people can judge others so harshly, because of actions that may be very apparent, when they are just as guilty of committing sin, when they have lusted in their hearts, which is something that cannot be witnessed by the natural eye! How soon some forget, that man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh at the heart of man!
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Well, go ahead and write your blog. This is a truth that cannot be overstated.
As a Catholic I was taught there are venial sins and mortal sins and that venial sins were more easily forgiven. That is very humanistic thinking! When we think of the holiness of God we know that even the tiniest, tiniest, tiniest hint of sin offends Him and will make a relationship impossible. The so-called “mortal” sins of Catholicism are not the ones that trouble me now. It is the “smaller” sins that plague me – the sins we can so easily overlook unless we listen to the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit.
Angela
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