Life Litter!

Yesterday was the first time in a long time that I had the opportunity to teach in youth. I tend to be the lazy youth leader who hangs out with the kids, has fun, and settles them down when they go crazy. However, lately I have wanted to reach out to them more through teaching. So....last night was the first lessons of many yet to come.

 I decided to go all out and do an object lesson from the usual discussion lesson. Being the procrastinator that I am, I waited to study for it Sunday afternoon. I know, I know I'm terrible. However, I did look on the internet a couple days prior for a topic idea. Anyway, I came up with the idea of a life liter. Yes, I said a life liter! I took a 2 liter bottle, some hard pinto beans, and a cardboard cross to illustrate our priorities as Christians.

The liter, as I stated earlier, represented our lives. The beans represented things that we do during our daily routine. For example: the beans could have represented going to work, eating, school, playing the computer, and etc.... Well, needless to say the liter was filled to the brim with pinto beans.  That's when I pulled out the cardboard cross. The cross would not fit inside the life liter. There was no room for it. Jesus was left completely out of the liter.

You see, a lot of times "us Christians" tend to put Jesus last. We make time for everything and anything except spending time with our Heavenly Father. I know I'm guilty of this. A lot of times I would rather watch T.V. instead of read God's word, and so I don't. However, the Bible commands us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind. He should always come first, and that is where my second illustration for the night came in.

I dumped the beans out of the liter and placed the cross in it instead. I then refilled the liter with pinto beans, and finished with a very important point. When we put Jesus first we may lose some of our beans, but because He is in the center of our litter His love will touch the ones that still remain inside. In other words, Christ will shine through our daily activities. All because we decided to put Him first.