I Can Be Pure by Keeping God’s Commandments
Psalm 24:3-5
“Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”
LESSON LIFESAVER Activity
Look-Ahead Decision Drama
OBJECTIVE: To encourage the youth to keep themselves pure by staying away from temptation and living close to the Lord.
TO MAKE: Print and cut out the Look-Ahead Decision Drama bottle label and word strips for each youth to take home. Enclose the activity in an envelope or plastic bag, sliding the label inside the bag with the word strips behind it. FOR THE GROUP ACTIVITY, glue the label on a bottle and enclose wordstrips in the bottle (shown above).
ACTIVITY:
Look-Ahead Decision Drama
Tell the youth that if they think before temptation comes, they can make a better decision of how to STOP and say “NO” to temptation. Example: Joseph did not hesitate but RAN from the temptation of Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39:8–10, 12).
To Play:
1. Divide the class/family into two teams.
2. A player from the first team draws a STOP or GO wordstrip to act out.
HERE’S HOW
• STOP. If the wordstrip reads “STOP,” pantomime or act out what you would do or say to STOP (run away from the temptation), but don’t say the keywords on the wordstrip. For example, if you say “smoking,” you don’t receive points.
• GO. If the wordstrip reads “GO,” pantomime or act out what you would do or say to GO (keep your heart pure), but don’t say the keywords on the wordstrip. For example, if you say “praying,” you don’t receive points.
SEE IF YOUR TEAM CAN GUESS the action; if correct, award 10 points.
The team with the most points wins.
TO KEEP THE GAME GOING FASTER give each team 30 seconds to act out and guess, otherwise, they have to try again (using the same wordstrip) after the other team takes a turn. The youth may need one minute instead of 30 seconds, and a little coaching to act out their situation/action. They can also call “time out! two times during the game to get 30 seconds from their team to coach them.
THOUGHT TREAT STOP and GO Cookies. Frost cookies red and green. Then, write with white frosting the words STOP on red frosted cookies and GO on the green cookies with frosting in a tube. Tell the youth that when we say “No” to temptation and say “Yes” to clean and pure actions, we can stay on the heaven-bound road and be happy (LOOKING AHEAD instead of back).
DISCUSSION POINTS (Scriptures, Jesus Christ, temptation, choices)
Perhaps you could ask the WHO, WHAT, WHY, WHEN, WHERE, HOW questions that invite discussion on the following.
• Just like a MAGNET the closer we are to the temptations of Satan the easier it will be to be drawn into his power. Just like a MAGNET the closer we are to the things of God the easier it will be to resist temptation and serve God.
• Joseph in Egypt was a trusted servant to Potiphar (Genesis 39:3-6). He served and loved God. HOW can we become trustworthy like Joseph?
• Potiphar’s wife tempted Joseph to commit adultery, but he didn’t stop to think, instead he ran from this temptation. Angry for resisting her, she told lies about Joseph and he was put into prison. The Lord continued to bless Joseph because of his faith and obedience (Genesis 39:8-10). HOW can we stay faithful even when we are treated unfairly?
• God knows it can be difficult to resist temptation. WHAT are some difficult temptations you are aware of (eating cookies before dinner, gossiping about someone, doing something your parents have warned you not to do, etc.)
• You can decide now what you will do before temptation happens such as not smoking, not gossiping, not using alcohol, not telling un-clean jokes, not listening to bad music, or watching pornography or un-pure flicks/movies. WHAT other things can you decide now to not do if the temptation comes?
• Your motto could be “If in doubt, say NO.” Satan wants you to doubt yourself and your ability to resist temptation. He wants us to be miserable like he is. God will help us choose the right and bless us with happiness.
• Each time you LOOK AHEAD, you will know what to say and do if and when temptation comes–making it easy to resist.
– Choose not to put yourself in a tempting situation; living on the edge puts you in danger.
– Choose ahead of time to leave without hesitation if temptation comes.
BIBLE SCRIPTURES TO UNDERLINE:
• James 1:12
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation.”
• 1 Corinthians 10:13
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
• Matthew 26:41
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.”
• Proverbs 1:10
“If sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”
You’ll love using the Bright Ideas Lesson Planner page included in the pdf download (with the above activity).
OT16