Something insignificant can put great things to lose…
"Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment, And cause it to give off a foul odor; So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor." Ecclesiastes 10:1
The lesson to be learned from this message is that something really small can ruin what is big. Something insignificant can put great things to lose. An ox, a horse and even a dead dog attract attention. But who cares about a dead fly?
Dead flies are things that go unnoticed by our eyes. For example, in the manufacturing of perfumes in the old times, the process was slow. It took months and even years in the process of creating it. In the quoted verse, the perfumer let the essence rest in a vessel for a long time. But he did not notice when a small fly entered the vessel and died.
Such a small thing fell into the container and canceled the effect! The man was careless and all his work was lost. What a lesson!
We have seen this in many young people who took twenty-three years to be educated and becomes an “adult”. After five minutes of conversation with a drug dealer, in the school bathroom, put those twenty-three years to waste!
Twenty-five-year marriages are destroyed because of five minutes of adventure!
How long does it take to build a reputation? A girl, who dreamed for eighteen years of getting married properly, with all that pomp, can put everything to waste in a simple conversation with a ‘cheater’.
Have you noticed that we don't ‘get good health’ from anyone? Now, try to stay indoors with someone who has a flu!
There is a story about a snake tamer. He was a circus man and he got a snake when it was as thick as a finger. He has tamed it for years. When the time came to present the snake, it would wrap itself around his body, and at his order, it promptly attended to it, unscrewing itself from its owner.
But one day, something went wrong: the snake did not obey the man and he started to have trouble breathing. The snake was squeezing and squeezing, until the auditorium heard noises of bones being broken... he was dead!
The great danger is that you play with what you know is harmful to your life! The great danger is to think that at any moment, you can stop. And that everything is under control!
The man in the story had the opportunity to kill the snake when it was still on his fingers. But he didn't, he fed it and played with it! In the end, he was killed.
My friend, don't compromise! At no time does the Bible direct us to flee - except with regard to our old nature: "Flee from prostitution", "flee from impurity", "flee from the passions of youth" - are advice from Paul, the apostle.
In Hebrew, folly means "nonsense".
Do not put years of service to Jesus, our Lord, to lose. Small folly can put your salvation at risk.
A perfume container cannot make a dead fly fragrant, but a dead fly can corrupt an entire job. In Paul's words:
"A little leaven leavens the whole lump." Galatians 5.9
Think about it!