Concluding Verse
“Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.” (Prov 4:23)
Materials
Jar filled with clear water
Variety of food coloring
Recommended Group Size
4+ persons
Estimated Time
30 minutes
Purpose
To learn how worldly influences affect our hearts
Objective
To turn the clear water into brown water
Procedure
Place the jar of water and food coloring on a table.
Gather the participants around a jar of clear water.
Each participant will be given food coloring. If there is not enough food coloring for each participant, then participants will have to take turns.
One at a time, participants put in a drop of food coloring. Each participant must put in a drop and participants cannot all put in the same color.
After all the participants have put in one drop, repeat the process with 2 drops, then 3, and so on.
The activity ends when the water in the jar has turned brown.
Continue with the lesson and follow up with the discussion and reflection questions. The facilitator may choose to divide the participants into smaller groups for discussion, if necessary.
Conclude with the verse. If so desired, the facilitator can ask participants to memorize and recite the verse.
Lesson
The jar represents our heart. Every day, the things that we see and do affect our heart. “The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness” (Luke 11:34). Even when it seems like we are putting harmless things, such as colorful food coloring, into our hearts, these things will still contaminate our hearts and make it brown. Out of an evil heart proceed “evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matt 15:19).
Discussion and Reflection Questions
After the activity, facilitator leads the discussion:
What activities do we do daily that might pollute our heart? What can we do to avoid these activities?
How do we guard our heart against pollutants?
How do we clean up our heart and remove the dirty things?
Is there anything that is good for us to put into our heart? How can we make a habit out of these activities?
Give a good and a bad example of someone who put good or bad things into their heart. What can we learn from them, and who should we imitate?