During my mother's last visit, she gave me a book titled, "52 Fun Family Devotions: Exploring and Discovering God's Word!" By Mike and Amy Nappa. I picked it up at one point and began to "explore" the first devotional and then life and holidays got in the way and I forgot all about this book. Now that the holidays are over, BIG SIGH OF RELIEF, I picked up life where it seemed to have ended weeks ago and tried the first devotional with Tyson today. This experiment is Christian based and relates to the topic of peer pressure.
In an exert taken from this experiment and this book's author, it says, "Families members of all ages are pressured to conform to the world's standards. "Cheat to get ahead." "Look out for number one." "Everybody's having sex just use a condom." "Popularity equals power". This devotion was supposed to show Tyson how Paul's warning to the ancient Romans is still relevant today. You should try it with your children, Christian or not.
Equipment: Popsicles, microwave oven, bowls, and a Bible.
Exploration: Tell the family that you are going to have the latest trendy dessert that everyone is eating these days. Get some popsicles out of the freezer and place them, wrappers and all, in the microwave. Cook them until they are good and soggy, and then hand them out to each family member. Be sure no one gets burned by a hot wrapper or popsicle juice.
Now point out the obvious: microwaving popsicles may be trendy, but it's also a pretty "stupid" (authors' words, not mind) way to eat a frozen treat. Popsicles are not meant to be cooked.
Share with your family how people are often encouraged by their friends, commercials, advertisements, celebrities, and society to do things that aren't very smart. This is often like trying to eat microwavable popsicles. It's not what the maker intended.
Discovery: Read Romans 12:1-2 and discuss these questions:
- How did you feel when I handed you the microwaved popsicles?
- How is microwaving popsicles like following some of the trends our friends follow?
- What are some of the ways the world tries to get us and our friends to do everything it does? What can we do when these actions or ideas are not smart or are against God's plans?
- What are the rewards in following God instead of the world?
Prayer: Lead your family in prayer like this: "Lord, give us wisdom to be able to recognize when others encourage us to follow them instead of you. Give us the strength to follow the encouragement of Romans 12:1-2 this week and for the rest of our lives. In Jesus' name amen."
Then pass out frozen popsicles and allow your children to enjoy them the way God intended them to be eaten.
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