Cold Case

Scripture Focus: “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” — Galatians 5:9

There are certain discoveries in life that require a little courage, and somewhere on that list has to be the mystery container hiding in the back of the refrigerator. You know the one. It has somehow worked its way behind the pickles and the salad dressing, and when you finally pull it out, you have absolutely no recollection of putting it there. You stare through the cloudy plastic looking for some identifying evidence, but whatever it once was has apparently moved on to another stage of existence.

Of course, common sense says to throw it away without further investigation. Curiosity says otherwise. So you carefully lift one corner of the lid, take the tiniest sniff imaginable, and immediately discover that curiosity is not always a virtue. Whatever has been growing in there has had enough uninterrupted time to establish residency, apply for citizenship, and possibly begin raising a family.

The funny thing is, it probably wasn’t frightening when it went into the refrigerator. It was dinner. Maybe vegetables, leftover casserole, or something involving cheese. At one point, somebody looked at it and thought, I’ll save this for later. The problem wasn’t what went into the container. The problem was that “later” never came, and while nobody was paying attention, something changed.

That rather unpleasant little picture makes me think about Paul’s words, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” We tend to think of spiritual danger in terms of the big things—the choices we would immediately recognize as wrong—but some of the things that do the most damage begin much more quietly. An attitude we know isn’t quite right, a resentment we keep rehearsing, a habit we’ve become comfortable with, or some small compromise the Holy Spirit has already nudged us about can be surprisingly easy to tuck away with every intention of dealing with it “later.”

And later has a way of becoming a very long time.

That is where the refrigerator lesson becomes a little uncomfortable, because neglected things do not necessarily remain unchanged simply because we are ignoring them. Resentment can deepen. Compromise can become comfortable. Something that once troubled our conscience can eventually stop bothering us quite so much—not because it has become right, but because we have become accustomed to its presence. Like that container behind the pickles, we can become very good at arranging everything else around something we really ought to deal with.

In other words, unresolved doesn’t necessarily mean inactive.

David prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts” (Psalm 139:23). That’s quite a prayer when you stop and think about it. We are essentially giving God permission to open the refrigerator door, move a few things around, and point toward whatever we’ve been hoping He wouldn’t mention. And if we’re being truthful, there are probably moments when our first response is something like, That? Oh, that’s been there forever. I’m sure it’s fine.

But God brings hidden things to light because He loves us too much to let something quietly spoil what He is doing in our hearts. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). I especially love that word cleanse. God doesn’t merely point out what has been sitting too long and leave us staring at it. He offers forgiveness, cleansing, and a fresh start in the very places we would rather have kept hidden.

That’s why the “little” in Paul’s warning matters so much. Leaven doesn’t need to be large to do its work; it simply needs to be left there. The same can be true of those small things we excuse because they don’t seem serious enough to demand our attention. Given enough room and enough time, they can quietly work their way into other parts of our lives.

Maybe we all have a cold case or two tucked away somewhere—something unresolved that has been sitting there longer than we care to admit. When the Holy Spirit puts His finger on an attitude, compromise, resentment, or habit we’ve pushed toward the back, there is wisdom in dealing with it when He brings it to our attention instead of moving something else in front of it. After all, some things really do not improve with age, and I have enough experience with refrigerator containers to know that opening the lid six months later is rarely the better option.

Reflection Questions:
1. Is there something the Holy Spirit has been bringing to my attention that I keep telling myself I will deal with “later”?
2. Have I become comfortable with something that once bothered my conscience?
3. What might I be arranging other parts of my life around rather than allowing God to remove?
4. What would it look like for me to respond today when God brings that hidden thing into the light?

Prayer Prompt:
Heavenly Father, search me and show me anything I have allowed to remain in my heart simply because it seemed small or easier to deal with later. I give You permission to uncover the attitudes, resentments, habits, or compromises I may have pushed aside or grown accustomed to. Help me not to resist Your conviction, but to recognize it as the loving work of Your Spirit drawing me closer to You. Where I have been wrong, forgive me; where something has quietly taken root, remove it; and where my heart needs cleansing, “create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). Keep me sensitive to Your voice so that when You bring something to my attention, I will not put it off until another day, but surrender it to You while You are speaking to my heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

If this devotional stirred your heart to follow Christ more closely and to walk with purpose, take the next step in His Word—“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalms 119:11). Keep your eyes on Jesus and let Scripture dwell richly in you day by day.

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