Weighed in the Balance

Application:

A balance that reveals hidden sins.

Materials You Need:

Sheets of A4 paper or thin card.
Scissors.
Glue or sellotape.
Cotton thread.
6mm diameter wood dowel 60cm long.
Eno (effervescent) Fruit Salts.
Or Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) and Vinegar.
A tall jug.

Preparation:

Roll two sheets of A4 paper into cones and glue or sellotape the ends of the paper.
Tie a loop of cotton to each cone and then tie both cones onto the ends of the dowel stick to make the balance scales as shown in the figure.
Suspend the dowel with an additional thread from the edge of a table so that the cones hang freely suspended in the air.
Adjust one of the threads holding the cones until both hang evenly in balance.
Place a tablespoonful of Eno in a tall jug and add about 100 ml of water. Alternately use a tablespoonful of Baking Soda and add 100 ml of Vinegar.
Wait until the effervescence stops and then tilt the jug over one of the cones and allow the Carbon Dioxide you have produced to flow into the cone. (Be careful not to let any of the liquid flow into the cone).
The Balance should then tilt as the heavier-than-air Carbon Dioxide fills the cone and upsets the balance of the two cones.

Effect:

A Balance is shown with two balanced cones. Sins can be hidden from man, but never from God. Invisible "Sin" is poured from a jug into one of the cones, making it heavy and spoiling the balance. Now, your sins have found you out!

Text:

Daniel 5:25-30.

Lesson:

Belshazzar the king of Babylon was weighed in God's balance and found wanting. As a result of his sin, he lost his kingdom to the Medes and Persians.

Now, your friends cannot see your sins, can they? So how does God know we have done any? The Bible tells us that God sees everything we do in secret (Psalm 139:7-12) and that we cannot hide anything from Him. I have this Balance that I have made with two paper cones. I'm going to make both the cones balance evenly. This is like the life Jesus wants us to live - open, so that you can see inside and outside with nothing hidden from God.

Doing Wrong Things:

However, we sin and do wrong things. Then we try to hide what we have done from our parents and other people. That's like this jug. I'm going to put two ingredients inside that represent just what happens when we sin. Firstly, like Adam in the Garden of Eden, we see that forbidden fruit looks good. So we look, and then we want it so badly that the devil tempts us and then we do just what Adam did. We take the fruit and eat it and so sin against God. Sin is disobeying God and doing the things that do not please Him. The Bible says that we all sin and fall short of God's perfection.

Hiding from God:

And just like Adam, we try and hide ourselves from God. You can hide your sins from man, but never from God. I am going to pour this jug of "Sins" into one of the cones. Now look, it has made the cone heavy and spoilt the balance. Ah Ha! Now, you know that I have sinned and I'm found out!

Are you hiding in the bushes waiting for God to call, "Adam, where are you?" The Bible says that, "Now is the accepted time" and it's time we stopped hiding from God. It's time we came out in the open, even if we are ashamed. Tell God that you have sinned and ask Him to forgive you. Let God then take away your sins and restore that balance in your life so that you can say, "The Lord is my Friend, my Saviour and my Helper". Let me pour out the sins from this cone - now the cones are balanced again!

Forgiven and Accepted:

The Bible tells us that the blood of Jesus washes away all our sins. Perhaps you need to ask God to forgive your sins. And then you can ask Jesus to be your Friend and Saviour. He will come into your life and change you into a Child of God, and write your name in His Book of Life. You then have the right to live eternally in Heaven and know that your sins have been forgiven.

God bless!