Seeing Evil

Bible Reading: Psalm 141:4

Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds. Psalm 141:4, NIV

If you were an elephant, you could smell danger on the ground or in the air just by waving your trunk.

If you were a housefly, you could easily spot a flyswatter using the four thousand lenses in your eye.

If you were a fish, you could feel a predator even before you saw it through a special sense organ called a lateral line.

But here’s a big question: Can you spot spiritual danger when it lurks in your life? Can you sense when a bad situation is developing?

You’ll be at home or at school or with your friends, and suddenly you’ll be tempted. You’ll give in before you even know what happened. Unless you are alert to evil, you’ll have a tough time ever spotting and choosing the right thing to do.

There are three very important ways to become more sensitive to spiritual danger-to develop your senses for spotting evil before it catches you by surprise:

1. Study the Bible. God’s Word shows what right and wrong look like. When LaTonya was confused about how to get along with a difficult friend, she dug into the Bible to see what it had to say about loving others. It helped her spot evil before she acted in a way that would disappoint God.

2. Listen for the Holy Spirit. God doesn’t leave you to sniff out evil all by yourself. Mitch struggled with hanging around too long when his friends were getting out of control—and into trouble. He often felt as if someone was telling him to get out of a bad situation. But it took him a while to figure out that it wasn’t just his own head talking to him. It was God’s Spirit nudging him to flee evil.

3. Give your heart to God. Temptation is strongest when we haven’t made up our minds whether or not we want to obey God. Until Katie decided she truly wanted to treat her younger brother better, she was dulled to danger. She didn’t see the difference between right and wrong. Making a big choice to do right made it easier for her to spot evil-and to do good.

God wants you to be alert to evil. Let him teach you to see wrong for what it is-a danger to you!

TALK: What can you do to be more aware of evil around you? How can you help one another stay alert?

PRAY: God, help our hearts not to be drawn toward evil. Help us to spot wrongdoing before it takes over.

ACT: Practice being alert to God’s warnings that you’re about to do something wrong!