What's the Big Deal?
What’s the big deal about little sins? Why is Liz’s dad so upset when Liz didn’t do anything really bad?
Before You ListenLet's Get Started
Theme: Little sins lead to bigger sins.
1. James 1:14-15 talks about things that tempt you. What would you do if you found something small that didn’t belong to you? Let’s say you found a Frisbee just lying on the ground. What would you do?
2. King Solomon was a wise man, but he let little temptations lead to big sins that caused huge problems. God's instruction to kings in Deuteronomy 17:14-20 warned the kings about having lots of horses and silver and gold. Solomon knew it was wrong to import horses and chariots from Egypt, but because of his wealth and power, he must have considered this sin too small to take seriously. Buying lots of horses from Egypt might have seemed a like a little thing to Solomon, but it was important to God. As you listen to this episode, think about the times when you hear people say, “What’s the big deal?” when it really is a big deal.
After you listen
Memory Verse
“Your own evil longings tempt you. They lead you on and drag you away. When they are allowed to grow they give birth to sin. And when sin has grown up it gives birth to death.”
Quiz
A: Because Miss Wattle thought that he set off firecrackers in a trashcan.
Reflect
In this episode Liz asks the question “What’s the big deal? He thought that taking a pipe from an old house was okay. Liz’s dad recognizes that when you give into a little temptation it makes it easier to give into a bigger temptation later.
In 1 Kings 10-11, maybe Solomon's reasoning went something like this: "When I bought all those horses from Egypt, nothing bad happened, so what would be wrong with collecting lots of gold?” We normally don’t see the results of sin immediately, but they will come. Wise Solomon gave in to the same temptations that the rest of us face. He compromised on what he thought wasn’t a big deal and chose his way rather than God's. The danger, though, is that small compromises lead to major sins. For Solomon, the results were devastating. His son ended up losing the whole kingdom of Israel. His experience is a warning of how little sins can lead to big problems.
Want to dig deeper and explore what scripture says about “big deals?” Check out 2 Thessalonians 3:3, Matthew 26:41 and 1 Corinthians 10:13.
Challenge
Try an experiment. Take a glass of water and add just one drop of food coloring. The one drop of food coloring seems like "no big deal," but it makes a big difference in the water! See what happens. Once the food coloring is in the water, try getting it out? How is this like giving in to temptation that seems like "no big deal"?
