Johnny: dad I think I’m ready to play my guitar at church!
Dad: have you prayed about it son?
Johnny: no, why would I do that for?
Dad: because Jesus says in Hebrews 13:20-21 that the God of peace will give you everything you need to do good for his name.
Johnny: so all i have to do is just pray and God will make me good enough to play at church?
Dad: Yes, Johnny. But first you have to consecrate yourself to him.
Johnny: But I do concentrate Dad
Dad: No son, not concentrate… consecrate
Johnny: Ok what’s conse… consecrate?
Dad: Consecration means giving your life to God to do His will instead of your own. It means that we present our bodies to Him as a “living sacrifice.”
Johnny: But I dont want to be sacrificed!
Dad: To sacrifice yourself means that you get rid of all the bad stuff in your heart and make your heart pure so God can come live inside it. God is holy so he can only live in places that are clean. Is your heart clean son?
Johnny: Welllll… I think so…
Dad: Does johnny’s heart look clean like mine kids? See Johnny your heart is brown and dirty. Remember when you lied to your mom last week? And when you stole the candy from the teachers bowl at school? Or when you were mean to the girl in your class because she didn’t talk to you at recess? You may have thought you were getting away with it, but Jesus saw it all and he was very disappointed. Your sins are turning your heart brown Johnny.
Johnny: ok dad, help me repent. Jesus I’m sorry for lying and stealing. Please forgive me, I want my heart to be clean so you can live inside of me.
SINS FLY AWAY ON A BALLOON
Dad: Look Johnny, your sins are flying away… That helped Johnny but you didn’t repent for everything… Your heart still isn’t pure.
Johnny:but dad I don’t want to repent for that girl.
Dad: Johnny, Romans 12:1 says that you should be holy and present your WHOLE body as a sacrifice. You can’t give part of yourself to God and part of yourself to the world and expect to have Jesus stay in your life.
Johnny: OK, Jesus I’m sorry for being mean to the mean girl-
Dad: JOHNNY
Johnny: ok, ok Jesus please forgive me for being mean. I promise to do better. God please let me be a light to her, and let her see you when she looks at me.
Dad: that’s better Johnny, and look your heart is pure!!
Johnny: it sure is dad!! Now what?
Dad: now let’s pray a prayer of consecration to God son. Can you kids help repeat after me with Johnny?
Lord Jesus this day… I consecrate my life to you… To trust… Obey… And serve you… The best I know how… I pray that you… Will help me… Lead a holy… Pure life… And help me… To follow you… For as long as I live… Amen!
Johnny: wow dad I feel great!!!
Dad: now son, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says that now your body is like the temple of Christ. Jesus can now come and live inside of you because you consecrated yourself to him!
Johnny: so now I’ll never need to repent again?
Dad: not quite, Luke 9:23 “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross DAILY, and follow Me.” That means that you need to pray every single day, and thank god for the things he’s done in your life. Also, repent for the things you’ve done wrong and keep your heart pure. So next time you think about stealing something, or lying, you need to remember that you are a child of a God and your body is a temple for him, and he doesn’t like when we act like that.
Johnny: dad, I feel so much better!!! I’m going to start practicing a lot of Christian songs and praying every day that God will help me reach people through my music. Then I’m going to play during church!
Dad: that’s great Johnny! Now are you kids ready to consecrate yourselves to God?
We have two boards set up here. Now on one you notice the heart is red and the other is brown. Can anyone raise their hand and tell something bad that would make your heart brown?
Ok now can you tell me something good that would make your heart red and happy?
Good job! We are going to go back to your classes and everyone needs to write down one thing that they want to consecrate to God. It can be something private, you don’t even have to tell anyone! Then we are going to go outside and let it fly away in the sky. Got it? You ready? Go!
