FEBRUARY 6

1 THESSALONIANS 5:22

                    SIN CAN PARALYZE...
       Ming wasn’t sure exactly what a stroke was, but his grandmother had
had one several months ago. Since then, she couldn’t walk very well and her
left arm hung loosely at her side. Mom said the stroke had partly paralyzed
one side of Grandma’s body. "Grandma, I pray for you every day," Ming told
her one afternoon. "I’ve been praying that you’ll get all better."

      " Thank you, Ming. I’ve been praying, too," said Grandma, "but I knew
this old body would give out sooner or later. It happens to the best of us,
you know." Grandma smiled – she always had a smile, even though she was
unable to do many of the things she had always done before. " That stroke
paralyzed some of my muscles. That’s bad enough,"she continued,"but did
you know that lots of people in the world are paralyzed in a different way
-– and some of them don’t even know it?"
      Ming was surprised."How could anyone not know that he’s paralyzed?"
he asked.
      "Well, sometimes sin works like a stroke – it paralyzes people," said
Grandma. After considering Grandma’s words, Ming frowned. "I don’t get
it," he said.
        Grandma took a pair of scissors from a nearby table and gently poked
her left arm with the sharp point. "My arm has lost both its strength and
its feeling," she said. "When I poke it, it doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s like that
with sin. Sometimes people just keep on doing something wrong until it
doesn’t ‘hurt’ any more. They lose the feeling of guilt, just like I’ve lost
the feeling in my arm."
      Ming nodded solemnly. " at’s even worse than being paralyzed the
way you are, isn’t it?"
     "It surely is," agreed Grandma. "I pray daily that whenever you’re
tempted to do something wrong, you’ll turn from it quickly and never
become paralyzed by it."

Thought: Have you done something wrong a number of times and become
less and less concerned about it? Have you even begun to think that the
wrong thing is right?
Prayer: Thank you Heavenly Father that today’s lesson teaches me that sin
can paralyze me. I don’t want to allow sin to paralyze my conscience. So
please when I next am tempted to do something wrong, help me turn away
from it immediately. is is my request in the name of Jesus, amen.