Obedience In a Bottle | Object Lesson
Angle 1:
Angle 2:
Needed:
- 1 liter clear plastic bottle (or one similarly sized) – Smart Water Bottle work great due to their uniform shape from bottom to top.
- Glass medicine dropper OR properly buoyant ketchup packet
- OPTIONAL BUT EVEN BETTER: You can purchase a Cartesian Diver like the one I currently use from Amazon.com at the link below. This will make the process of putting this together SO much easier.
Prep:
- If you are using a medicine dropper, fill the dropper partially with water until it just barely floats. You may have the play with the amount of water in the dropper until it is just right.
- If you are using a ketchup or salsa packet from a fast-food restaurant (McDonald’s ketchup work pretty well), try different packets until you find one that is perfectly buoyant. You want it to float but just BARELY.
- Fill the 1 liter bottle with water, put in the packet or dropper and top off the bottle with water. You want it to be completely full. Put the cap on tightly.
- Test that you can easily cause the dropper or packet to sink when you squeeze the bottle.
Lesson:
Ephesians 6:1 – Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.
We all need to be obedient just like this verse says. Today I have brought my good friend with me. His name is Bob. He does everything I ask him to do. Watch this!
Bob, stay at the TOP of the bottle.
Expect and receive applause
Have Bob perform a variety of feats such as:
- Go to bottom of bottle and stay there
- Go halfway up and stop
- Follow my finger up and down the bottle
- Pretend to pull a string on the bottom and then cut it
Just like Bob is obedient to me, we should also be obedient that those in authority over us,.
Hebrews 13:17- Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
Talk about how you should obey them that have the rule over you such as your parent’s, your Sunday School teacher, your pastor, etc.
NOTE: You can also use this to talk about Jesus coming to live with men on earth and how He was resurrected again!
Thinking of making a bunch of these with a toy or something instead of a ketchup to pass out to the kids after the lesson. I would put scripture somewhere on the bottle (Ephesians 6:1, or Colossians3:20 or maybe the Old Testament one that I can’t think of at the moment) for the kids to use to instruct their obedient Bobby (or Bobbie if it’s a girl) and teach them how to make Obedient Bobby obey. Instruct the children that every time they show obedient Bobby to someone that they should read the verse and explain it to Bobby, then do the trick.
Let me know what you come up with to make these. I’ve used an eyedropper which worked really well but haven’t really tried to source several of them so I don’t know if the cost is prohibitive. They actually make these called “dipsy divers” which are pretty cool. They look like an octopus or some other silly animal but that cost about $5 each.