Please forgive me for the graphic photo above, but it symbolizes an important lesson. In November 2017 I developed a small boil (infected area) in my hand. I’m actually not sure how it started, but after a few weeks the boil started to give me some pain. Nothing serious, just slight discomfort.
I should have dealt with the infection right away! But it didn’t hurt much, and I felt that it would sort of fix itself eventually. After about six weeks though it was obvious the infection was becoming worse instead of better. Eventually it got to the point I had trouble closing my hand!
finally I went to see a private doctor to fix the problem. He “lanced” the boil (stuck it with a needle) and began to squeeze. The doctor warned me this would be VERY painful and told me to tell him when I couldn’t take any more pain. I held out for a while but finally asked him to stop squeezing, even though he wanted to push more out.
Over the next few days the infection itself came out naturally because the pressure of the boil had been broken.
This nasty (and painful) lesson taught me something very important….
Infection spreads
I knew this was true but didn’t take the beginning of my boil seriously because it was so small, and it didn’t cause pain. It wasn’t till it was a serious problem that I went to the doctor. If I had dealt with the boil when it was small with medication, or bandages, there is a very good chance it wouldn’t have become a serious thing.
Sin is like that infection because it never simply stays small. The little insignificant sin will continue to grow in your life until it consumes everything, And removing that sin will be a very painful process.
The same can actually be said for false-doctrine. The beliefs that go against the teaching of Scripture usually don’t begin by questioning the character of God, or the Gospel. instead they begin with a simple thought or question that doesn’t really seem that bad. But when that small though is allowed to grow, it ends in false-doctrine.
Take it from someone who learned the hard way. Deal with the infection now!
Johnhwilburn.org 