Children's Story: Muddy Confusion

Props

• 3 or 4 clear jars (empty spaghetti sauce jars work well)
  • 1 prefilled all the way with mud
  • 2 empty
  • 1 with both mud and water, allowed to settle (optional, in case your mud doesn't settle very quickly)
• Tarp (to protect the floor)
• Mud or dirt in a container
• Water in a pitcher
• Spoon to spoon mud into jars and to stir water/mud mixture
• Bucket to catch water and mud spilling out of jars

Story/Demonstration

• Show an empty jar
  • This jar is like our heart and mind

• Pour water partway into a jar
  • God wants to fill our minds with everything that is good, true, and trustworthy.

• Spoon some mud into same jar
  • But the world often doesn't like what is good and true, and the devil definitely doesn't.
  • So they bring in lies and other bad and nasty things into our minds.

• Stir the water/mud mixture
  • What's true and what's not get all stirred up inside us and soon we don't know one from the other.

• Pour water into jar until it starts to overflow
  • God wants to pour more of the good, true things into us.
  • By doing so, the lies start to get washed out.

• Spoon more mud into jar
  • But the world and the devil offer muddy lies.
  • They want to keep our minds muddy.
  • If we keep accepting the lies instead of what is true, eventually all we know are lies.

• How can we know what's true and what's not?
  • How can we know that what we're filling our minds with is true and not lies?
  • How can we clear up our confusion?

• Leave the jar alone and let the mud settle
  • We need to take time to let the mud settle.
  • If we really want to know what is true, the Bible tells us that God will allow us to know.
  • We will be able to recognize what is true and what is not.
  • Once we do, we can begin to test everything we see and hear so that we can choose to let the good things in and keep out the bad.

• Spoon out some mud and replace with water
  • We can even begin to remove some of the lies and replace it with what is true.

• What happens if we don't?

• Spoon more mud into jar
  • What happens if I keep spooning more mud into this jar?
  • Soon we end up with more mud than water, more lies than what is true.
  • And we can become more comfortable with the lies and what is bad than with what is good and true.
  • We might even begin to believe that the lies are actually true.
  • And when that happens, we might even end up hating what is really true.
  • When it keeps happening, eventually all we know are lies -- which isn't really knowing at all -- if you think about it.

• Show jar filled with mud
  • Some people during Jesus' time on earth ended up like this.
  • They chose for so long to believe lies that they thought the lies were really true.
  • So when Jesus tried to tell them otherwise, they wouldn't believe it.
  • Jesus wanted so badly to help them see what was good and true.
  • Jesus wanted so badly to use the clean water to begin cleaning their hearts and minds.
  • But they didn't want it.
  • They wouldn't allow Jesus.
  • So Jesus had to let them go, to eventually die without him.

• Show mud-filled jar, fill remaining empty jar with water
  • What kind of jar do you want to be?
  • What do you want to fill it with?