Several members of my congregation make fun of me for being so particular about the chair setup in the auditorium of our worship area. In fact, many will quietly say I have OCD about the placement of every one of them. And honestly, it is not too far from the truth. Let me explain.

Our auditorium is not large, but with proper arrangement, I can fit 256 chairs in without any issues and still have room for another 14-20 metal chairs from our kitchen. This is critically important on big days like Christmas and Easter, as we will fill almost every seat except the front row.

The reason I am so focused on the placement of each row is that being off by 1 inch per row adds up to 10 inches when the rows are in place. That means the back row will not fit and leave space for walking. An extra inch of spacing between the rows will throw everything off, and we will lose a whole row in the end.

Our lives work in much the same way. If you waste a few minutes here and there, it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but often it leaves us with little room for the love of God and our neighbor. If you spend a little extra money here and there, it may not be a big deal in a month, but by the end of the year, you could be behind thousands. Make a moral compromise, and you may feel no immediate ill effects. But when you have to cover it with a lie, another soon follows, and you eventually lose sight of the truth.

Slopes are often slippery, and small mistakes can add up to big problems. That is why I am picky about chairs and why you should pay close attention to even the little things in your life.