Kitchen Christianity: Drinking from the Tap

Christian metaphors can be difficult. Everyone is supposed to understand them, but often no one explains them.

The first time I sang the B-I-B-L-E song to my toddler, she looked puzzled and then picked up her Bible storybook and set it on the floor. I could tell that her next move was going to be to step on in. I didn’t scold her. I just picked up the book and put it away with the thought that I wasn’t going to sing that song again for a long time. The lyrics clearly state, “I stand alone on the word of God,” and she was ready to obey… literally.

“Standing on the word of God,” isn’t the only phrase that can be confusing. For example, many children’s Bible storybooks include the story of “The Woman at the Well,” but don’t try to explain what Living Water is, or how there can be a spring of water inside of a person.

This little kitchen object lesson can tangibly show what is hard to put into words.

• It’s great to do this after some energetic playtime, when your kid is actually thirsty.

• Instead of handing them a water bottle, take a moment at the sink instead…

The Set-Up

First, turn on the tap and hand them an empty cup. Ask how they can fix their thirst problem.

After they fill their cup and drink their water, ask what would happen if they got thirsty again. Obviously, they could come back to the sink and fill up their cup again.

Say something like:

Regular water helps us stay alive, but what’s the difference between regular water and Living Water that the Bible talks about?

Let’s use our kitchen tap to help us understand!

The Delivery

Turn on the tap in the kitchen sink.

Say something like:     

Let’s pretend that our tap can’t be shut off. This never-ending water is like God’s love.

How do we get God’s love? We decide that we want to be His friend.  

Put the cup in the flow of water.

What if we stop being God’s friend?

Take the cup out from under the flow and drink it up (or pour it out).

We’ll use up all the love He gave us, and if we want more, what would we have to do? Come back to God and become His friend again.

Put the cup back under the flow of water.

What if we stayed a friend of God? Would we ever run out of love?

Let the cup overflow into the sink.

Put a straw in the cup and have your kid try to drink enough to keep ahead of the flow. Pretty soon, you’ll both be laughing and will have to stop.

Let the cup keep overflowing.

Soon we’d be so full of love that we would overflow with love!

God’s love doesn’t stop and we can’t use it up. Soon we’ll overflow with love.

Just like a spring of water in nature keeps giving regular water, we would be like a spring of Living Water, never running out of love from God and giving love to others.

Let the overflow fill up some other cups.

We’ll have so much love from God that we can’t help but share it with everyone around us.

The Conclusion

Say something like:

Jesus came to earth to show us exactly what God is like, so when you hear the Bible talking about Jesus being the Water of Life or about Living Water, it’s talking about how God’s love never stops or runs out, and how it is that love which will forgive our sins and save us.

Try this activity before you read “The Woman at the Well” story and see if your child better understands the interesting word pictures Jesus uses.

Hopefully, it will be more successful than my first attempt at the B-I-B-L-E song!

Never thirsty again!