A Necessary Removal

My wife bought a new Samsung smart phone recently. We set it up by transferring all her contacts and most of her apps from her old phone. However, when she started using it, we noticed that the volume didn't seem to work. I checked the volume in settings thinking maybe there was a limit set on it or something, but everything seemed fine there. We turned the volume all the way up and all the way down, but it made no difference. She could make a phone call and people could hear her talking, but she couldn't hear them although the call appeared to be connected.

We Googled volume issues with this phone and found other people had similar issues. The volume couldn't be turned up. We tried their solutions, but nothing solved our issue.

Finally, we decided to call Verizon and exchange this faulty phone for a replacement. The Verizon representative was very helpful and patient, as they always are. He allowed me to explain the problem, then tried calling the phone himself. The volume issue was still there. Then he asked a question I'm embarrassed to admit to you. "Is there a plastic sheet covering the front of the phone?"

"Of course not," I thought, as I closely looked at the screen. Sure enough, right there on the front face of the phone was a thin plastic sheet used for protecting the phone during shipping! I slowly peeled it off, thinking "there's no way this little sheet would affect the volume."

As soon as I peeled off the cover, the phone's volume came alive! We could hear apps, phone calls, ring tones, everything! Embarrassingly, I admitted to the representative that he had solved the problem and we didn't need to send the phone back.

The most amazing part of this story is that such a small, thin, inexpensive piece of plastic could make such a huge impact on this sophisticated, expensive smart phone. Yet its presence basically rendered the product unusable.

This story reminds me of how we must treat sin. Sin disables us from functioning as follower's of Christ. Sin, thought sometimes small, can cause great pain and discomfort. It must be removed from our lives just as this piece of plastic needed to be removed from the phone.

Hebrews 12:1 says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles..." 

Achan, from the tribe of Judah, stole some of the devoted things (Joshua 7-9) and brought God's judgement upon the entire nation of Israel. He thought it just a small deception, but in God's eyes it was huge.

Sin can be thought of as small, but it's consequences are massive! It may go unnoticed for some time. It may be ignored, but ultimately, it leads to pain, destruction, and death.

James 1:13-15 says, we're tempted by our own evil desires, "then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." 

Remove from your life any sinful behavior, no matter how small it may seem. Strive to live a life holy and pleasing to God (Romans 12:1).

And finally, make sure you take off that plastic cover that comes on your new smart phone!