The night before the Desert Storm troops were to begin their land invasion, trying to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein, a supernatural intervention took place that the troops will never forget. That night there was a sudden shift in the wind.
Usually the wind would blow from the north, but it unexplainably shifted to blow from the south. One of the Saudi officers commented, "It never blows from that direction." They can't say never anymore.
When the invasion began the next morning, the allied troops witnessed an unbelievable sight. There was a huge, exposed minefield in front of them. Those mines had been concealed under the sand and would have destroyed many soldiers, but that unprecedented wind had uncovered the mines so they knew exactly where to step.
Hebrews 5:14 from God's Word says, "Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." The ability to distinguish good from evil is called discernment. It is getting tougher and tougher to be able to see sin in disguise and not step on the land mine but discernment is exactly what our kids need, whether they are kids in your family or in your church. Some of us try to equip them to live in this moral minefield by giving them a list of don'ts for every occasion. No one can come up with a long enough list to cover everything kids are going to face.
Our world is a moral minefield, and our children are daily going into it. It is easy to be destroyed - to step into something we never meant to. By the time we see the danger, we have stepped on it, and it's too late. It is better to focus on blowing away the sand that covers sin and its consequences. We need to train those we influence, like our children, to be able to distinguish good from evil.
Instead of trying to teach what every moral choice should be, we should teach how to make moral choices. Here are five questions that can expose wrong for what it is. Question number one is: Will it devalue my body? Something is wrong if, in any way, it devalues or degrades this body of mine. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit." God lives in you, and anything you do with your body you drag Him into.
The second question that blows away the sand on the land mines is: Will it let darkness into my mind? Proverbs 4:23 says, "Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Don't be softened up for an invasion of your mind by letting some dark thoughts and ideas get in there through what you watch or listen to.
The third question is: Will it hurt my reputation? Proverbs 22:1 says, "A good name is more desirable than great riches." Protect your name.
The fourth question is: Will it hurt the people I influence? Romans 14:13 says "Make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way."
The fifth question is: Will it hurt Jesus, who is watching what I'm doing? Ephesians 5:10 says, "Find out what pleases the Lord."
There are land mines in the world that we and our children walk close to, and they are covered with bright sand that makes the destructive potential invisible. God blows away the covering with the wind of His Word. Learn to recognize a moral minefield, and then invade the darkness.