Family Faith and Fun Fridays (On Saturday): For God So Loved the (Messy) World…
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. -Hebrews 4:12Welcome to Family Faith and Fun Fridays! (on Saturday). As the week winds down and I anticipate more family time over the weekend, I often ask God for one good idea that will enable me to bring the Word to life and bring our family together. Usually, the activity overflows out of something the Lord has been teaching me through His Word during the week. I’d like to invite you to join me and my family in the adventure. Sometimes I’ll post things we’ve tried; other times I’ll post an idea in the works. If you’ve got thoughts to add or suggestions on how to adapt or improve the activity, please don’t hesitate to comment. Enjoy!
Once the wet and wacky fun is over, I’ll bring out a bag of potting soil and add the dirt to the bucket of clean water. I’ll dump a new round of apples in the bucket and ask, “Now who would like to bob for another apple?” I’m guessing that I’ll have NO volunteers. If I do, I’ll modify as we go along.
Assuming we have no dirty water bobbers, I’ll wrap up like this:
–Why didn’t you want to bob for the apples in the dirt?
-Would you have considered it if I’d offered a ten dollar bill as compensation? Why/why not?
-Which bucket do you think illustrates God’s love best.. the dirty water or the clean water? Why?
I’ll explain, “I think the dirty water paints the most accurate picture of God’s love for us. John 3:16 says, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.’ Think about how Jesus came to our world. He arrived in a stable, filled with stinky manure. And that was just the beginning! He gave up Paradise for this world of sin and dirt and death. When He grew up, He reached out to people no one else wanted to touch or be with or love- the blind and crippled, those with leprosy and greed, poor fisherman and ignored children. He had NO sin, but in the end, He took OUR sin upon Himself and died on the cross to set us free. He didn’t do it to receive a reward (like a 10 dollar bill). He had nothing to gain because everything is already His! He simply did it because He loved us. Jesus loved us enough to reach through our messy lives and save us. (At this point, I’ll “fish” the apples out of the dirty water.) His name is Immanuel- which means GOD WITH US- right here in the middle of our mess, Jesus is with us. Let’s tell Him thank you!
If we did happen to have a bobber brave enough to get a mouth full of dirt, I’ll ask why he/she did it. Then, I’ll press the bobber for details: Was plucking the apple out of dirty water pleasant? Which was more comfortable- bobbing for apples in clean water or in dirty water? I’ll re-iterate how Christ chose the UNPLEASANT road so that we could be saved and I’ll thank our “dirty water bobber” for illustrating Christ’s sacrifice in a small way. After we pray, I think we’ll wrap the apples in caramel and celebrate the SWEET love of our Savior, Immanuel!
The Overflow! (See if your family can memorize this together): Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings. -Psalm 17:8
Did any one go for the dirty water? 🙂
~Robin