Tools For Living: Part 1 Series

“The Toolbox”

Open with the description of the two tools boxes…

Highlight the differences in outward appearance… one is well taken care of, sturdy looking, etc

Toolbox is for putting stuff into, what is in the red one. Kinda what you would expect… the outside give a preview of the inside.

Note the lock and explain why the lock is there.

Main Points

1. God gives us our bodies, minds and spirits…

Gen 1:26-28

26Then God said, "Let us make people[a] in our image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life--the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock, wild animals,[b] and small animals."

27 So God created people in his own image;

God patterned them after himself;

male and female he created them.

28God blessed them and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters over the fish and birds and all the animals."

2. It is up to us to decide how we will treat them…

Gen 2:15-17

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

3. It is up to us to decide what we will put in them…

Gen 3:6,7

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

4. God has given us our bodies, minds and spirits… he expects us to care for them… he allows us to experience the consequences, good and bad, of our decisions.

Judges 16:19-21

19 Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. [a] And his strength left him.

20 Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!"

He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I’ll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.

21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison.

5. It is up to us to protect ourselves… (not the kind of taking care of yourself that limits what God does… it is being smart)

Matthew 10:16

16Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; be [a]wary and wise as serpents, and be innocent (harmless, guileless, and [b]without falsity) as doves.

Teaser… what do should you have in your toolbox… have to come back to hear what some of those things are…

Call to Action

Recognize you need to give yourself back to him.

Recognize your need to take better care of what he has given you.