About a year ago, I was working with a group of seven and eight year olds from the youth ministry when one of them asked me a question. ”Brother Jason, Whats sin?”
“Sin” I explained, “is anything that is not of God. It can be stuff like lying, stealing, teasing the new kid, or just being disobedient. To sin is to willfully separate yourself from the direction God wants you to go in.” I then reminded him of what the Bible says about sin in the book of 1 John.
4″Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness”. 1 John 3:4 NIV
I was pretty proud of the fact that I had come up with an age appropriate answer so quickly. Then I noticed his brow starting to wrinkle. Little Jimmy was thinking. If you’ve never worked with small children, you’re probably wondering, “Well, whats wrong with that”? Nothing at all. In fact, stimulating the minds of small children is a good thing. However, this was Little Jimmy. Every year, I have a student in my class like Jimmy. He’s the kid that asks the tough questions like, “Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?” Just in case you’re wondering, no they did not. Unlike the rest of us, they were formed by Gods hand and had not been born. Therefor, they had no need for belly buttons. Questions like these were common from him. The funny part was, growing up as a child, I was a Little Jimmy. I can remember confounding my Sunday School teacher with questions about dinosaurs, how old the earth was, and why there weren’t any girl angels in the Bible if there were so many pictures of them. One day my Sunday school teacher actually got the best of me for a change. I asked him if animals could talk in the Bible, why couldn’t they now. To this day I can remember him looking at me with a smile on his face and saying, “Who says they can’t?” 
Moments like that one are what inspired me to teach in the youth ministry. No class is complete without a Little Jimmy.
Moments like that one are what inspired me to teach in the youth ministry. No class is complete without a Little Jimmy.
“But don’t we sin everyday?” He asked.
“Yes, Jimmy.” I answered. Jimmy had apparently been thinking about how he had spent his day prior to coming to service. I thought that was the end of it, but I could still see him working over some things in his mind.
”Do you have another question, Son?”
“Yup. Hold on.”
“Take your time.”
“OK. I’m ready. If we sin all the time and sin separates us from God, does that mean that God doesn’t love us anymore?”
“No, Jimmy. Just like any good parent, God will always love His children. Even when He doesn’t always agree with the things that we’ve done. In fact He loves us so much, He sent Jesus to Earth as a sacrifice to die on the cross for our sins.”
“But, if Jesus died for our sins, doesn’t that mean we can do what ever we want?”
“No, Jimmy.” Little Jimmy was exercising my brain. I saw where this conversation was going and decided to come up with another age appropriate answer. “Have you ever played the game Jenga before, Jimmy?”
His eyes immediately lit up with excitement. “Yes, Brother Jason! I LOVE that game!” I walked over to the cabinet and put the game on the table. For those of you who have never played Jenga, the game is pretty simple. You have three rows of stacked blocks that lay in opposite directions every other level. This creates a crisscrossed tower of eighteen levels. The object of the game is to remove a block from the high rise and add it to the top without collapsing the tower.
“Well, Jimmy. Your life is kind of like a big tower of Jenga blocks. Right now, all the pieces are in their proper place and your tower is fairly stable. The problem comes when we decide to sin. You see, Jimmy, Satan hates a stable Jenga tower. Ever since he was cast out of Heaven, his job has been to try to knock down as many Jenga towers as he can.”
“I hate Satan!”
“Good job, Jimmy. What aggravates Satan the most is that he just can’t walk over to your table and topple your Jenga tower. In fact, he has to convince you to destroy it.”
“How does he do that?”
“By enticing you to sin. You see, Jimmy. Every time we sin, it’s like removing a Jenga block from our tower. At first, just having one block missing isn’t a big deal. Go ahead and try to pull one out.” Little Jimmy did as he was told and removed a block from the center of the tower.
“That was easy!”
I know, Jimmy. And that’s exactly what Satan wants us to think. But, Satan isn’t just satisfied with weakening your tower. He wants to destroy it. To do this he tries to burden you with your sins. Now place the block on top of the tower.” Again, Jimmy did as he was told.
“It still looks pretty stable to me, Brother Jason. I’m really good at this game.”
“I bet you are, Jimmy. But lets keep playing a while.” And so we did. Every time Jimmy removed a block and stacked it on top of his tower, I told him it was another sin he had committed. He stacked lies with unbelief. He balanced selfishness with anger. Hate dangerously teetered on top of the blocks of gossip and lust. We continued to play until his tower was one big, wobbly, mess.
Jimmy started laughing. “I think it’s gonna fall.”
“It would fall if we kept playing Satan’s game, Jimmy. And I don’t think God would be happy with us if our life looked like this. But remember, my little friend. God Loves us so much that He sent his only son to die on the cross for our sins. So if we ask God to forgive us, He does something so amazing that neither you or I can do it for ourselves. Do you know what that is Jimmy?”
“No, Sir. What does He do?”
“He puts all the blocks back in place. He removes the weight of sin from our shoulders and places our life back in order.” I then carefully began removing blocks from the top of Jimmy’s tower and recreated a more stable tower next to it. I could see the proverbial light bulb come on above his head. When I was finished, I shared another scripture with him.
21″God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV
“I think I understand now, Brother Jason. But, can I ask another question?”
“Sure, Jimmy. Whats on your mind?”
“Where are the dinosaurs in the Bible?”
“We’ll save that one for next time. Right now, lets play some more Jenga.” We both laughed and to my surprise, Little Jimmy was content for the rest of the day. I think part of Jimmy’s contentment came from understanding that God will continue to love us no matter what we do. We just have to remember that the weight of sin can destroy our lives if we aren’t careful. It’s important for Believers to remember that no matter what you may have done, if you ask God with a sincere heart, He will not only forgive you of your sins, but will also reorder your life. Be Blessed, My Friends. Be an Overcomer.
~Bro. Jason Z. Hunt
Memory Verse: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV
Memory Word: “Sin”: Anything not of God.
Inspiring Music: “Most High” by Deitrick Haddon and the Voices of Unity from the Blessed and Cursed Soundtrack
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