February 6, 1 Timothy 4:2

Ming wasn’t sure exactly what a stroke was, but his grandmother 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 paralysed 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 was still able to smile, even though she was unable to do many of the things she had always done before. “That stroke paralysed some of my muscles. That’s bad enough,” she continued, “but did you know that many people in the world are paralysed in a different way without even knowing it?”

Ming was surprised. “How could anyone not know that he’s paralysed?” he asked.

“Well, sometimes sin works like a stroke and paralyses 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. “That’s even worse than being paralysed 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 paralysed 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 paralyse me. I don’t want to allow sin to paralyse my conscience. So please when I next am tempted to do something wrong, help me turn away from it immediately. This is my prayer in Jesus’ name, Amen.