Family Devotion Idea: Salt Adds Support

*About once a week, we try to post the outline of a family devotion that you and your kids can do together.  Carve out some time with your kids for a fun and creative discussion this week!

Teaching Goal:

Jesus calls us to be “salt” in this world.  Like salt in water we are to provide support for friends and others.

Scripture:

Matthew 5:13  “You are the salt of the earth.”

Mark 9:50  “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?  Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with each other.”

Materials:

1/2 cup salt

1 cup water

Marker

2 clear glasses

2 eggs (raw or hard boiled)

Lesson and Discussion:

*Words that are written in bold are when you, the parent, are speaking.  Feel free to use your own words.

ACTIVITY A:

Several times in the Bible Jesus compares Christians to salt.  In the book of Matthew, Jesus says to his followers, “You are the salt of the world.”  Salt has more than 14,000 known uses (according to the Salt Institute).  Let’s make a list of some of the uses for salt.  Adds flavor, preserves, deicing roads, helps things to float.  In the past, salt was so valuable it was used as money and wars were even fought over salt.

In this lesson, we are going to look at one quality of salt—buoyancy.  Do you know what buoyancy means?  Float.  We are going to try an experiment.  What do you think will happen if I put this raw egg in the water?  Will it float or sink?  Let them guess.  Do not put salt in the glass of water.  Before I put this egg in the water, each of you think of a friend, and I’m going to write their name on the egg.  Cover the egg with friends’ names.  This egg represents our friends.  The water represents challenges and difficult times we face in this world.  Let’s see what happens when we put it in the water.  The egg sinks.

Take a second glass and mix one cup of water with 1/2 cup of salt.  Stir it until most of the salt is dissolved.  What will happen to the egg when we put it in a cup of salt water?  Let them guess.  Put the egg in and watch it float.

Jesus says we are to be like salt in the world.  One of the characteristics of salt is that it can support and hold up items in the water.  Like salt we can support and hold up our friends and others.

ACTIVITY B:

How can we be like salt and support our friends?  Make a list of answers.

Comfort friends when they are sad.

Stand up for friends when others treat them badly.

Help friends by studying together.

Play with friends who are lonely.

Invite friends to children’s programs at church.

Invite friends to Family Time.

How can we be like salt and support people we don’t even know?  Make a list of answers.

Donate clothes and toys to families who do not have any.

Shovel the driveway or mow the lawn of an elderly neighbor.

Prepare and take a meal to someone who has been in the hospital.

Pray for people who are sick, out of work, lonely, etc.

Become a pen-pal with a child from another country.

Pick one of the ideas from our lists and plan to use it to support a friend or other person this week.  Talk about the idea each family member chooses to use and the person they choose to support.

If you like this devotion idea, there are hundreds more available from Family Time Training.  See the link on the left side of this page for more information.