1 Corinthians 10:13 - No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
We talked about temptations tonight and how easily they can lead us into sin. We also discussed the difference between being tempted to sin and God using tests to grow us in our faith.
We looked at a stuffed bear we brought tonight. He's cute and fluffy and very harmless looking. He appears to be very friendly, much like the things or events we face everyday. So if bears are so friendly, then why do our national parks have signs that say "don't feed the bears"? Real bears are potentially dangerous...just like many of the situations we face that could at first seem so harmless. Some situations we face tempt us to get involved in something that can be harmful or isn't Christian. They can lead us right into sin. We talked about a few of these.
- drugs, drinking, smoking,
- inappropriate relationships with members of the opposite sex,
- cursing,
- cheating on a test at school,
- stealing something,
- gossiping,
- lying
- leaving someone out of a group to hurt their feelings,
- going along with a group that's doing something in the name of fun, but you know it's wrong.
There are so many more! Some temptations we're lured into no matter how hard we try not to be...through peer pressure or our own desires for the things. Some we choose to partake in willingly because they look like fun and because "everyone else is doing it".
Our national parks have signs that say "don't feed the bears" because bears have been known to attack people who get too close to them. They are wild and dangerous animals that can be uncontrollable in the presence of people and food.
Likewise, in our spiritual lives, we must beware of the "bears" as well, the real ones...those things that appear innocent, but can take over our lives and keep us from being the kind of persons God wants us to be. They too are wild, dangerous, and seemingly uncontrollable. We told the kids to remember not to feed the bears in their lives...not to give in to those temptations, not to feed those desires...even just a little. To remember the visual of the bears, we told them to remember that part of 1 Corinthians 10:13 that says that God will not let them be tempted beyond what they can bear.
We watched a clip from Fireproof then to show the kids a battle with a real-life bear. Caleb in the movie was battling the temptation of pornography and the destructive nature it was having on his marriage. In the beginning of the movie, he saw nothing wrong with this bear. He saw it as harmless and innocent. By the end, Caleb saw the bear for what it really was, a dangerous, destructive, and uncontrollable evil in his life.
Next we talked about how God uses things in our lives to test us. We watched a clip from the movie Courageous. Javier was offered a better paying job in a different department at work. The only catch was he had to lie about a shipment he would receive. Though he needed the job and extra money desperately for his struggling family, Javier chose not to accept the job because he knew what he was being asked to do was not God's will. Turns out, Javier's boss was merely testing his faithfulness and he ended up getting the promotion for his integrity and honesty. He passed the test!
To wrap things up, we showed the kids a fuse. We talked about how all homes have fuses and they can actually keep a house from burning down. Homes have electrical wires running through the walls to switches, lights, and outlets. The wires carry electricity that allow our lights to turn on, our microwave to work, etc... Sometimes, we run too many appliances from the same circuit at one time. This could cause the wires in the walls to become so hot that they start on fire. Thankfully, somewhere in every house is an electrical box. The tiny fuse's job is to stop the flow of electricity when it has reached the point where it might cause damage. They never let more electricity go through a home's wiring than is safe.
God is our fuse! He never allows a temptation to come our way that is too great for us to handle. And He will also provide a way out so we can endure it. The question remains...what will we do when a bear wanders into our path? Feed it? Or beat it?
