Kyle (leader) began with an illustration of how sin drags us down. The first volunteer to come up to the front of the room was Sam. Kyle told Sam to run around the room as fast as he could. Sam sprinted around the room. Kyle then gave him a box and told him to run around the room as fast as he could. Sam still ran fast but not quite as fast as the first time. Kyle then gave him three hoolahoops and told him to run with both the box and the hoops. This time he was slower. Kyle continued giving Sam objects until he could not even walk. Other people were volunteered to help Sam carry all of his stuff around the room. Sarah, Austin, Samantha, Sam and a few others were soon running around the room bumping into each other with boxes, extension cords, a bike, hoolahoops and books hardly being able to move. This is what sin does to us. At first it seems like it doesn’t hurt us that bad, but the enemy slowly adds on more until we are at a standstill with our walk with God.
In the tundra of the north the Eskimos have a unique way of hunting wolves. They will get animal blood and stick the blade of a knife in the blood. They will then take the blade and hold it up in the freezing air. Once the blood has frozen to the blade they will repeat this over and over again until the blood is a few millimeters thick. They will then go to the edge of the forest and stick the handle of the knife into the ground with the blade being exposed and walk off. The wolf will eventually walk by and smell the blood. It will search all around for the animal with the blood it smells. Finally, it will give up and come back to the blade. Tired and thirsty the wolf will begin licking the blade. As it continues to lick the pop sickle of blood eventually the ice melts and the blade cuts the wolf’s tongue and without noticing the wolf will accidentally drink its own blood. This causes the wolf to go into shock and die.
Sin slowly and subtly destroys you. The enemy is not going to attack you by letting you know what he is up to. He is going to slowly expose you to sin and make it familiar to you. Just like the wolf is numbed by the frozen blade and can’t feel what is happening to him, the enemy numbs you to how bad sin is.
The enemy has been trying to do this since creation. In Genesis 3:4 the serpent (the devil) tries to make disobeying God seem like it isn’t that bad. It is the normal thing to do. The world is trying to make sin familiar to us: “Bad pictures is what every guy looks at. It’s okay to listen to music that talks about girl and guy things. It’s normal to date and hold the opposite sex’s hand in 7th grade. It’s okay to kiss a guy. It’s cool to know the lyrics to all the latest secular music. “
In Genesis 2:16-17 God told Adam and Eve to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God never wanted us to become familiar to sin, to KNOW EVIL. Instead, Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:3 to become like little children (not childish). Why would Jesus tell us to have the spirit of a child? He was showing us that we must not be hardened by the world and its desires. We must become pure and innocent and not familiar to evil.
How are you going to remain pure? How are you going to have the spirit of a child? Psalm 119:11 says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your Word (God’s Word).” We must live according to the Bible. The answer is this simple: OBEY HIM! When a girl is dressed bad, live according to God’s Word and don’t look, because God’s Word says, “Do not look lustfully at a girl.” When all your friends are singing secular songs at school, don’t sing with them, don’t listen, because the Bible tells you not to. Girls, when your friends flirt with guys it’s not okay for you to flirt. It’s not okay to hold a guy’s hand or even think about dating someone as a Jr. High student. God wants you to have the Spirit of a child.
You may be thinking, “Man, if the wolf would have just licked the ice and not the knife! It doesn’t work this way. Adam and Eve did not fall because they accidentally ate the fruit. They fell because they began to desire it. The enemy wants you to desire sin first. He wants you to be curious for that sweet music, that cute guy, that cute girl. If he can get you to think it’s normal and want it then it is already too late.
