How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. Psalm 119:9
The Basic Bible Truth
We live in a world broken by sin. It’s effects are everywhere. In fact, the Bible says that all of creation groans from the repercussions of the fall of man. We must take caution to guard our hearts and our minds as we walk through this world. The degradation around us will work its way into our minds and not leave if we entertain it but for a moment. There is but one solution. The Word of God is the soap and water we need to make and keep our minds pure.
The Object
A Foo Can A Large Funnel Three Feet Of Plastic Tubing Food Coloring A Towel Yellow Water In A Joy Dish Soap Squeeze Bottle Clear Glass Cup
A Foo Can is a time honored classic magic prop that can be purchased online for about $30 at most magic supply stores. The Foo Can is a stainless steel can that you can pour liquid into and when you tip it over to pour, nothing comes out. When you lean it the other direction, the liquid does pour out. I begin with preparing the Foo Can with more than just several drops of red and green food coloring. Place enough into the can to turn a cup of water into an ugly brown/black looking water. With that done well before your presentation, you are ready. Then, ask for a volunteer.
The Lesson
When I was a young man, I had an amazing summer job. Each year, a day or two after school was out, I left for the summer to work on a custom wheat harvesting crew. We would start harvesting wheat in southern Oklahoma, and gradually move our machinery north as the wheat ripened, all the way into northern Montana. There were six of us high school boys who worked on the crew. It was hard, hot, dusty work, with very long hours, but the pay was great, so we all gladly put up with the discomfort and strain.
During my first year out, I experienced something I would like to recount for you. We were travelling from one small farm town to another. It was so small, it didn’t even have a trailer park to place our campers in that we stayed in, but my boss knew of a place where we could hook on to water and sewer near the elevator, so we hurriedly hooked everything up and left for the field. We worked a hard, hot, dusty day, and finished around 11:00 that night. And we came home to no water! That meant no showers, so we brushed ourselves off with our towels and went to bed. The next morning, up at 6:00 and ate breakfast and off to the field again for another long, hard day. We again came home to no water. So we brushed ourselves off again…this went on for 6 days! Let me do the math. 6 high school boys, working in 100 degree temperatures for 6 days with no water, living in 1 camper with 0 air conditioning—even we weren’t that tough. So we rounded up as many quarters as we could find and walked across town to a car wash. You know the kind with the spray wands? And we took turns hosing each other off that night. The soap cycle was warm and sudsy, the rinse was downright cold. But, ladies and gentlemen, you have not lived until you have finished off a shower with a hot wax!
I tell you that story to illustrate this point. We have soaps for our hands and shampoo for our hair and cleaning gel for our hands. The Bible declares that we need to keep our minds clean as well. We live in a very dirty, disgusting world. I’m not talking about the trash in the streets, or anything like that. No, I am talking about the sin that we can see everyday around us as we go about our lives. If we are not careful, the things we see get into our minds, and then we must wash them out before they decide to stay there. God has said that we are cleansed by the washing of the Word of God. As we take the Bible into our minds, if cleanses us from the filth that we come in contact with each day. Things like bad movies, television commercials, people using swear words around us; these are just some examples of the things that we need to clean out of our minds every day.
Allow me to demonstrate how this might work. (I ask for a volunteer at this point and have them sit down). I am going to pour this glass of water into this can. And lets add some dish soap. I prefer the lemony smell of Joy dish soap. “How much of this do you think we need?” (The volunteer usually shrugs their shoulders) “So, it’s been awhile since you last washed your brain out, huh?” (I keep pouring a lot of dish soap into the can). Now to the exciting part. We are going to have to do this the hard way. This can filled with soap and water represents the Word of God that will cleanse our minds. (I wrap a towel around the shoulders of the volunteer. Grabbing the funnel and piece of hose, I ask a second person to help me hold all of the apparatus. I place the end of the hose into one ear with the funnel held high, and pour the entire contents of the Foo Can into the funnel—at least so it looks. I tilt the can the direction that keeps all of the liquid in the can. When finished, I take the funnel and hose away and lay them to the side.) Now, he has read God’s Word and taken it into his mind. (Usually I make a humorous point to keep fingers in the ears so that the cleaning fluids don’t run out either side through this entire process.) Now, later on in the day, he remembers what he read and how good God is. (I slowly slosh the head back and forth.) The Word gets into every corner of his mind, cleaning all that nasty stuff out of there. Its called meditating.
Now lets check on our progress. (I have my helper get the hose while I retrieve the can and then we “pour” everything back into the can. I ask the volunteer if they would like to see how we did, and I tilt the Foo Can the direction that allows the fluids to pour out and I fill the clear glass cup. By this time the food coloring has turned the water a very nasty dark color.) “Wow, you must feel a whole lot better!”
How can we keep our minds clean and pure? By reading the Word of God