Family Devotion Idea: The Expanding Egg

*About twice a month, 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:

A heart that is soft and open toward God will grow.

Scripture:

Acts 7:58, 8:1-3, 9:1-22 – the story of Paul from when his heart was hardened to when he grew in the Lord.

Materials:

Uncooked egg (in its shell)

Large clear glass (allows room for the egg to grow)

Distilled white vinegar – enough to cover the egg while in the glass

In Advance:

One full day before the activity, have your child place the egg in the glass. Draw attention to the size and hardness of the shell. Cover the egg with vinegar and let the glass sit.

Lesson and Discussion:

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

Read Acts 7:58, 8:1-3, 9:1-22 or in your own words tell the story of Saul/Paul, stressing the following points:

--Saul hated the early Christians, even giving his consent for the stoning of Stephen.

--Saul wanted to go to Damascus to persecute the Christians there.

--Jesus came as a bright light and spoke to Saul on the way to Damascus, and he was converted.

--Saul, now Paul, immediately began to preach about Christ, and the people were amazed.

--Acts 9:22 says, “Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.”

ACTIVITY:

Get the egg and vinegar mixture. Carefully lift out the egg using a spoon. Have the children examine the changes in the egg. By now the hard shell has dissolved and the egg has grown at least 50% bigger. (It will be covered in a translucent film that will make the egg fragile and slippery.) What has happened to our egg? The shell is gone and it’s bigger. What do you think changed the egg? The vinegar. How is this egg like the story of Paul? Paul had a hard heart just like the egg had a hard shell.

The egg represents a person. In this story, that person is Saul. The shell represents a hard heart. The vinegar represents Jesus. When Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, his hard heart went away. Each day, Saul’s faith and belief in Jesus grew bigger and bigger. Jesus changed his name from Saul to Paul and gave him the special job of telling others about Jesus. You and I know about Jesus because of Paul. Jesus wants to soften our hearts too so our faith will grow.

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.