Prepare Your Heart | Rice, Skewers and Bottles

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Needed:

• 2 empty water bottles
• An empty mixing bowl
• 2 wooden skewers
• Enough rice to fill both water bottles with a bit left over

Preparation:

Pour rice into the 2 bottles. Fill one of them up to the top and leave it. With the 2nd bottle though, shake it, smack it against the table and push on the rice to compact it as much as possible. You should see the bottle now has room in the top to add more rice. Pour more rice in and repeat this process until you absolutely cannot add any more rice.

This will make the rice in the bottle so dense that when you insert the wooden skewer it will make it tight enough so allow you to pick the bottle up with the skewer.

Note:

Practice, practice, practice… seriously. Sometimes you have to fiddle with this to make it work. Inserting the skewer at an angle helps as well.

Lesson:

CALL UP A VOLUNTEER. AFTER THEY COME UP, GIVE THEM THE WATER BOTTLE THAT IS FULL OF RICE THAT IS NOT COMPACTED AND A WOODEN SKEWER.  KEEP THE BOTTLE OF RICE THAT HAS BEEN COMPACTED FOR YOURSELF.

Today we are going to do an experiment to see which of us can pick up their bottle that is full of rice using just these wooden skewer. And you have to do it without spilling out any of the rice and WITHOUT poking any holes in the water bottle. You just put the skewer down into the neck of the bottle into the rice and try to pick up the whole thing without touching the bottle at all.

Ok, (VOLUNTEER’S NAME), I am going to let you start first. Whenever you are ready, go ahead.

YOUR VOLUNTEER WILL VERY LIKELY NOT HAVE VERY MUCH LUCK WITH THIS. AFTER THEY FUMBLE AROUND FOR A WHILE STOP THEM.

Well, you have had your shot, now it is my turn. it really isn’t that hard, watch.

STICK YOUR SKEWER INTO THE OPEN TOP OF THE WATER BOTTLE, DOWN INTO THE RICE AND PICK UP THE WATER BOTTLE WITH THE SKEWER. THIS SHOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE, BUT DUE TO HOW COMPACTED THE RICE IS IN THE BOTTLE IT WILL PROVIDE ENOUGH FRICTION FOR THE BOTTLE TO BE PICKED UP WITH JUST THE SKEWER.

See, it isn’t that difficult. Just stick the skewer down inside and pull up. That’s it.

YOUR VOLUNTEER WILL TRY OVER AND OVER AND WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DUPLICATE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE.

This is a lot like our relationship with God. God wants to use us and He reaches down and tries to move on us but unless our heart are properly prepared we will not respond to Him.

And that’s not all. One day he is coming back for His people. He wants to take His people home with Him to heaven and only those that are ready will rise to meet Him in the air.

Did you know that my bottle is exactly the same as yours? Really it is! Same size, same shape… everything is the same. And the rice is the same also.

POUR OUT THE RICE FROM BOTH BOTTLES INTO THE 2 MIXING BOWLS

The difference is the condition of our heart. I am not sure if you can tell but my bottle had a whole lot more rice in it than yours.

I had actually been working on it for a while before you came appear. You see, I put as much rice as would fit in the bottle and then I compacted it, pushed it down and carefully prepared it.

My bottle had been getting his heart right by praying, reading his bible, going to church faithfully and trying to live right.

By preparing his heart right, he was ready to respond when God called and when God comes back for His people this bottle will be ready to live with Jesus for eternity in heaven.

THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO TALK TO YOUR KIDS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF FOLLOWING THE BIBLICAL PLAN OF SALVATION AS THE BIBLE OUTLINES IT. REPENTANCE, BAPTISM IN JESUS NAME AND FILLED WITH THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST. (Acts 2:38)