Children's talk: The new heart

For the first time ever Caroline gave me unreservedly positive feedback on my children's story.  So I thought I would blog it.

You need your full food waste bin, a separate bag full of fresh fruit and a cloth.

You begin by explaining that the food bin is you, but that there is a problem on the inside of you.  The waste inside the bin is your heart (which in the Bible means more than your blood-pump).  In our hearts we are not very good at loving difficult people or forgiving those who hurt us.

Get them to smell the contents of the bin.

Sometimes the lid is lifted and people can see what our heart is like.  For example, we lose our temper with our brothers and sisters or get mad with our friends.  So what do you do?

Well you could try to deal with the outside of the bin (wash it with the cloth), but the stink is still there on the inside.  We can smile at people and pretend that we like them, yet in our hearts we still hate them and refuse to forgive them.

No!  Something needs to happen on the inside.  We need a change of heart.  Only God can do that.  So we go to him and say, 'help!  I just can't do it!  I can't love this person!  I can't forgive them!'  And God promises to do something with our heart.

Now you switch the waste bag, and put in the one with fresh fruit.

Let them smell the bin again.  Take a piece of fresh fruit out of the bin and eat it.  Remind them that God promises to change us on the inside in a way that we can never change ourselves on our own.

Bible text: Ezekiel 36:26.