The fact that a hypnotist would be performing and we would have opportunity to observe him in action got my attention. Patsy and I agreed that we could use the hour advantageously in some fashion later.
I had read books on the subject of hypnosis, so it was not without a little knowledge that we exercised our option to be in attendance. Its dangers and its benefits have found room to exercise my brain from time to time.
The hypnotist spent time explaining the “what and how” of his procedures. He also explained how the people in the audience could avoid being hypnotized. Finally, he explained how some of those selected would be especially good subjects while others would have to be removed from the “game”.
Twelve people immediately volunteered. In fact, many more made the mad dash to the platform; only twelve found chairs. It was hard to comprehend the simplicity of the technique applied and the abruptness with which these folk went “under”. Ultimately, four had to be removed with two being replaced by people from the audience who had become hypnotized. We wanted to believe that this was a show and that the people had been prepped; however, as a suggestion made minutes before was performed simultaneously, you knew that this was legitimate.
There was an enormous amount of responses… from the sublime to the ridiculous, all under the control of the hypnotist. The ages of those involved were varied. We spent some time with one of the participants later who had acted out being Elvis. He had been hypnotized many times prior to this for medical reasons. He remembers nothing of his antics except, that when he came out of the state, he was standing before hundreds of people and thought himself to be addressing a realtor’s convention.
Somewhere in the middle of all of this, God brought to my mind a verse of Scripture from Romans 6… ”Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” (Romans 6:16) The entire chapter of Romans 6 deals with the subject regarding whose servant we belong and to what extreme does a master exert control over your life?
That is a pointed question for all of us. We either submit ourselves to Christ as His servants, or, we become the servant’s of sin and of the devil. For instance, verse 20 speaks of “slaves of sin”, whereas the 22nd verse speaks of being “enslaved to God”. Personally, I have enough trouble keeping my mind on track for God and His Word without abandoning it to someone else to manipulate.
The unsaved person, and perhaps you may be such a one, needs to recognize that the brain is being manipulated by Satan. Rather, he needs to yield it up in subservience to the God of all eternity, the Lord Jesus Christ. In so doing, you will be “freed from sin, and became the slaves of righteousness”; like those folk to whom Paul refers in Romans 6:18.
ETCetera 