Tonight I accompanied Bobby to a lesson he was teaching on Heberews 12:1 to some children at an AWANA program. He brought Ty and Bradford to assist in his visual demonstration. After explaining that God is perfect and we are full of sin he read this verse, “Let us lay aside ever weight, and the sin which so easily entangles us…” Ty and Brad came forward with a roll of duct tape and a pair of scissors and every time Bobby said the word “sin” they would wrap more and more tape around him. At one point Bobby held his index finger out, pointing and said, “If we sin even just once, God won’t even allow that.” At which point Brad wrapped his index finger in duct tape. It was hilarious and a clever way to get this point across to the children. At the end Bobby told how Jesus sets us free from sin, by grace through faith, and broke out of the tape. We were later told that a young girl talked to her leader and told her that she didn’t want to be entangled by sin anymore and wanted Jesus to be her Lord and Savior!

I was encouraged today by a couple of different conversations and Bobby’s lesson tonight…it got me to thinking that if I am an instrument of the Lord (meaning that I am surrendered and obedient to Him), I can be used to encourage others. I don’t have to be ensnared by sin. I am always being reminded that sin is a choice. What I started to think about today was that I don’t even have to be entangled by sins of omission. James 4:17 talks about this, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” There is no room for fear, insecurity, hesitation, excuses, grudges or feelings. An instrument does the will of the one that controls it. With New Years there is all this hype about resolutions, all the commercials these days are about dieting, excercise and stopping smoking. Christianity is not about one time desicions. It is a lifestyle of obedience. I hope I will always be reminded through conversations, lessons and people that challenge me to live this way every day, not just for a month after New Years…