True Happiness / Deceptive Devil | Full or Empty Bottles
What you need:
- 3ea 1 liter soda bottles.
- A razor knife
- Fine mesh screen (I have bought this at Walmart and Home Depot) – it doesn’t have to be super sturdy… just the kind used in home windows.
- Scissors
- Sharpie permanent marker
- A hot glue gun
- 3 tubes that the soda bottles fit into easily and are tall enough to hide all but an inch or so of the bottles ( I ended up using some pipe and end caps that I found at Home Depot)
- Water (enough to fill the tubes leaving about an inch or so empty at the top)
- Food coloring
- A drill bit somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 in
Preparation:
This object lesson will definitely require time to dial it in and get it right. You have three bottles sitting inside of three tubes with just the top inch or so of the bottles showing. Whenever you want you can pull up any of the three bottles and show it to be full or empty.
Cut the bottom off of each of the 1 liter bottles just where it starts to flare out (approximately 3 inches or so up fro the bottle making sure all of the curvy “feet” part of the bottles are gone). Make the cut as level and even as you can.
Place the cut bottle onto the screen and trace the size of the base onto the screen with the Sharpie and then cut out the circle (you should be able to use scissors for this). Hot glue the cut screen circle to the bottom of the soda bottle.
At the top of the bottle about an inch and a half or so below the cap, drill a small hole. Make sure the hole cannot be seen when the bottle is in the tubes.
Fill the tubes with water and add food coloring so you can see the water better. Put the bottles inside the tubes.
How it works:
When you grab the soda bottle and pick it up WITHOUT covering the hole you drilled, the bottle will lift out of the tube and water and be shown as empty.
If you COVER the hole with your thumb, completely sealing it, you should be able to carefully lift out the bottle and the vacuum created will allow you to pick up the soda bottle showing it is full of water.
Notes:
You definitely have to practice and tweak this lesson until you get it just right. If you are not careful, sometimes when you cover the hole and pick up the bottle too quickly or at a slant the water will drain out of the bottle while you’re holding it which will ruin the effect.
This lesson can be taught two different ways. In the video above you will see that I teach about how the devil is deceitful but in the text below I will talk about where true happiness can be found.
Lesson:
We all want to be happy… and that is NOT a bad thing at all!
There are so many exciting things that we reach for in life. Things that promise to give us fulfillment, satisfaction and happiness. Things like:
- MONEY
- TOYS, CARS, HOUSES, TOYS
- LOTS OF FRIENDS
- GOOD FOOD
- INCREASED SKILLS, ABILITIES & TALENTS OF OUR OWN
- OUR PHYSICAL STRENGTH
- THE INFLUENCE OF PEOPLE WE KNOW
- AND SO ANY OTHER SIMILAR THINGS
So here, I have three different bottles hidden in these tubes. Now they may be full or they may be empty. Who really knows? But I think at least one of these has happiness inside. We are going to find out where true happiness can be found.
Is it in this first bottle? This first one contains LOTS OF LOTS OF MONEY! I have been told that if you work super hard or have super rich parents that leave you a lot you can be TRULY HAPPY!
PULL OUT THE FIRST BOTTLE AND SHOW THAT IT IS TOTALLY FULL
Whoo hoo! Yes, I knew it! Happiness is found in money! The more you get the happier you become!
DROP THE BOTTLE BACK DOWN
What about things? The things that money can buy? What if you could afford ANYTHING? The best gaming console in the world… an Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, the best PC Gaming Rig ever or ALL OF THEM!
What about cars, houses, toys? That will make me happy right!? Let’s find out!
PULL UP THE SECOND BOTTLE AND SHOW THAT IT’S TOTALLY FULL
I KNEW IT! Buying things will make me happy… that is so exciting!
And what about this one over here? This third one? Being famous? What if everybody knew who I was and everybody wanted to be my friend? What if people all over the world wanted to know me, to see me, to take pictures with me, for me to sign autographs and whatever? Wouldn’t that make me happy? Really happy? Let’s find out.
PULL UP THE THIRD BOTTLE AND SHOW THAT IT’S TOTALLY FULL.
YES! I just knew it! Being famous will make us happy! So we have finally figured it all out. It is really so simple isn’t it? Just follow the simple steps… 1, 2, 3 and BOOM, instant happiness. So let’s recap.
#1 – all we have to do is… MAKE LOTS OF MONEY!
PULL UP THE FIRST BOTTLE AND SHOW THAT IT IS NOW EMPTY.
Yes! Happiness can be found in mone…. WHAT?!?! What happened? Where did my happiness go? It all drained away!
But you see, that’s what happens. You may think that being rich will make you happy but it is only temporary. You can never fill the emptiness inside of you with money.
But what about steps 2 and 3? Those are still good right? So, true happiness can be found in buying lots of expensive thin….
PULL UP THE SECOND BOTTLE AND SHOW THAT IT IS NOW EMPTY.
What is going on? Where did my happiness go? I bought a Ferrari, a Tesla, a big house and setup the best game room in the world. WHY AM I NOT HAPPY? (INSERT LONG SAD PAUSE HERE)
Yes, that is what lots of very wealthy people in the world are asking themselves. Why am I not happy when I am surrounded by everything the world has the offer?
But my celebrity will still be there for me right? Being famous and having people talk good about me and want me around will always make me satisfied…. right? right?
PULL UP THE THIRD BOTTLE AND SHOW THAT IT IS NOW EMPTY
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?
You see, lots of people go through this very thing. They have a goal in mind that when THIS CERTAIN THING happens, I will finally be fulfilled and finally be happy but that isn’t the way it works out.
That is why so many rich and famous people have committed suicide… because when they reach the top, they realized that even there, they are still missing something.
Do you know what that something is? Yes, JESUS is missing! Happiness isn’t found in any of these things (indicate the bottles), Jesus is the answer. He is the only thing that will ever truly satisfy you and truly make you happy.
When you repent of all your sins, are baptized in Jesus name and are filled with the Holy Ghost you will begin to experience fulfillment like you never have before.
PULL OUT THE FIRST BOTTLE AND SHOW THAT IT IS FULL
Now, life is full of love, joy and peace… happiness is everywhere you look.
PULL OUT THE SECOND BOTTLE AND SHOW THAT IT IS FULL
And we have the hope of an even better life to come. We get to go heaven and one day be with Jesus FOREVER!
PULL OUT THE THIRD BOTTLE AND SHOW THAT IT IS FULL
Alternatively, you can play a game with your class where they try to pick the bottle of the three that is full. No matter which one they pick it will always be empty and you can show that a different one is the one that is actually full. Strangely enough, if later they choose the one that you already showed to be full, it can now be shown to be empty.
