"Empty Notebook" Bible Object Lesson (Psalm 51:1-2) about a Clean Heart

Our modern culture pretends that sin does not exist but even a child knows that when you refuse to obey God’s commandments and the Spirit’s promptings, it stains your soul. I think King David expressed this acknowledgment best when he wrote Psalm 51.
“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Psalm 51:1-2

Clearly, David was hoping and praying for relief from his sins/transgressions. He asked for purification and cleansing. In a world where the lines of right and wrong are blurry at best, it’s good to teach kids about sin, the consequences of sin and the need for repentance. If you have a couple of spiral notebooks and some markers you can!
Prepare to Teach
Before class, fill up one notebook with scribble scrabble. On each page but a few at the end, use the markers to draw exclamation points, sad faces, X’s–things that could represent sin. Leave the other notebook clean. Put the notebooks on the teaching table and put the markers away.
Let’s Teach
Hey guys! Thanks for being here today! I’ve got something special planned for you. But first, let me ask this question, Who likes do-overs? You know what I mean. Second chances? (Hands should go up.) Great! See this notebook? (Pick up the clean notebook. Turn some of the pages as you talk so the kids can see it is clean.) This clean notebook is like you and me. We all start our life with clean pages. That’s clean hearts and souls…anything can happen…we can do great things…but then we make mistakes. We sin. We all sin. (Put down the clean notebook and pick up the messy one.) Then somehow, our lives become like this, messy, not clean. God can’t write His plan on our life because we’ve messed it all up. (Turn the pages.)
King David talks about this in Psalm 51. Let’s read it. Who will read for me? (Pick someone to read the verse aloud.) King David cried out to God and asked Him for forgiveness. God did it! He gave David that clean heart that he asked for! (Tear a few pages out of the messy notebook. Talk about things that might make a life messy–lying, stealing, cheating, jealousy etc. Talk about repentance. Keep tearing until all the messy pages are gone and nothing but clean pages are left.)
Look at that! All clean! So which life do you want? Which heart do you want? The messy one or the clean one?
Read more from Mimi by following her blog at Tools for Kids Church.