Cistern
Cistern
We wanted to put some time between the kids seeing the items and asking them to recall them and so we broke the kids up into groups of three. We spoke to them all about what cisterns are and what they are used for. Cisterns are waterproof containers used for holding liquids, mainly water. They have waterproof linings and are usually built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are generally used where water is scarce so that the rainwater can then be used for cooking, washing, watering crops, and evening drinking. We looked at some pictures of examples of cisterns as well.
Then we gave each group "building" materials (hand towels, napkins, tape, coffee filters, colanders, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, tissue paper, rubber bands, etc...). We gave the groups fifteen minutes to brainstorm and build their own cisterns for holding water. When time was up we took our homemade cisterns into the kitchen to test their "waterproofness". Obviously, since none of the materials the kids were given were waterproof (except the tape maybe), no group's cistern withstood the water test.
Now it was time to test how good their memories were. Each youth was given their notebooks and asked to recall as many of the items under the towel on the table as they could remember and write them down. By now, very few items could be remembered, which was the point.
We talked about how, if the things on that table are here today and gone tomorrow in our memories, like some of the fads that are popular today (Silly Bandz and Webkinz for example), then how foolish is it to spend so much of our time, money, thoughts, and energy on them. It's as foolish as trying to build our own waterproof containers out of materials that aren't waterproof!
Jeremiah 2:9-13 - 9 Therefore, I will bring my case against you,” says the Lord. “I will even bring charges against your children’s children in the years to come. 10 “Go west and look in the land of Cyprus; go east and search through the land of Kedar. Has anyone ever heard of anything as strange as this? 11 Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones, even though they are not gods at all? Yet my people have exchanged their glorious Godb for worthless idols! 12 The heavens are shocked at such a thing and shrink back in horror and dismay,” says the Lord. 13 “For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!
We reminded the kids that cisterns were used where water was scarce. Then we asked the kids if they knew of a fountain of water that never stopped flowing and was so plentiful that the residents of that city would never have to fear being thirsty. While they thought about it, we read them John 4:4-15 about the Samaritan woman at the well. Finally, we concluded that only believers in Jesus Christ and residents of the kingdom of God have access to that endless flow of living water.
John 7:38 - 38Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."
With John 7:38, we realized that, if we are followers of the one true living God, our hearts are the waterproof cisterns that God has prepared for His Holy Spirit to occupy. And the supply of the Holy Spirit in our lives is endless. We never have to ask for more. It flows freely and therefore, why would we ever need to foolishly attempt to make new cisterns out of "stuff", idols when they can never satisfy our thirst or our souls.
