A. W. Tozer once prayed, “Save and deliver us, we pray Thee, from the bondage of little things.” What a wise prayer. It is often not the big things that keep us from God, but the thousand little things. In the same prayer, Pastor Tozer confessed we can break one, two, even ten of the little habits and comforts keeping us from surrendering to the Lordship of Christ,
but we are powerless to break the thousand little things that twist together and bind us. When we let little things that are not of God accumulate in our life, we find they become strong chains restricting us and keeping us from complete surrender to our King.
The bondage of little things begins subtly. We don’t see it coming. It begins as a small compromise. We choose a good novel over God’s Word, a movie over spending time in God’s presence, or perhaps working a couple of extra hours when we could be serving our family or others. There are always a million excuses and rationalizations we concoct to explain our choices. Some are so good we actually believe them. After all, it’s only a small choice, inconsequential in the moment. Reading our favorite author is less taxing than being convicted by the Word of God, and we convince ourselves we just need to relax a bit. Where is the harm in that?
What we fail to recognize is the subtle illusion with which Satan is blinding us. If we need to relax, there is no better way than immersing ourselves in God’s Word or simply being quiet in His presence. If you’ve ever experienced the presence of God, you know there is nothing comparable to the immense peace and joy felt basking in His glory (Psalm 119:165). Yet we allow Satan to convince us some sort of mindless entertainment will be more edifying to our soul than God. It’s a trap. At the moment, it is a small thing, but it is one more cord twisting together to bind us from experiencing the fullness of a life committed to Christ.
Perhaps you don’t struggle with seeking entertainment and pleasure over seeking God. For you, it may be a sense of accomplishing something you deem important or earning a few extra dollars to provide additional comfort and security for your family. You see these things as a noble pursuit, so you devote yourself to them. But when your devotion is to anything other than Christ, you are creating idols. Being diligent in your work is good and right, but obsessing over it and allowing it to control your thoughts and decisions will surely lead to pride and ruin. Again, it’s a small thing at the moment, but over and over, it is building a stronghold of self-sufficiency in your heart that leaves no room for the presence of God.
We all have our areas of weakness. Satan knows what small things to place before us. The devil is always seeking ways to trap and destroy us (I Peter 5:8). The bondage of little things creeps into our life when we take our eyes off Jesus and stop paying attention to the battle swirling around us. We must stand firm in the recognition of the goodness and complete sufficiency of our Savior. His Lordship in our lives leaves no room for even the smallest compromise (Deuteronomy 5:32). He demands our complete surrender and devotion. The next time you rationalize a choice in your life, remember each small compromise builds on another until that one small decision has become an impenetrable stronghold preventing your surrender to the King. Watch out! Be mindful of the temptation of little things (Galatians 5:7-10).