How To Be A Geyser

This Complete Breakfast - Day 2

Here's today's breakfast discussion with my Short People. You'll find the links to other discussions in the "This Complete Breakfast" tab at the top. :) 

"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for 

from it flow the springs of life." —Proverbs 4:23

What is a spring?

In this case, it's not a Slinky or a season of the year. It's water, shooting up from the ground! It keeps on flowing, toward the plants, animals, and people around it. If it's good, clean water, then that's a really great thing for living things. They get to drink it and grow big and healthy. 

But what happens if pollution gets into the spring? 

Then pollution goes into the water, and it gets all over everything! Everyone who drinks or even touches that water will get sick! Even a little bit of pollution in the water isn't good, because it can cause sickness that nobody notices for a long time. 

How could someone keep the spring from being polluted?

They would have to protect that spring! They'd have to tell people, "Hey, you can't dump that garbage here, there's fresh water coming out!" They might need to build a fence around the spring to keep animals from pooping in it. They might build a sign to let people know not to swim there. How else could they protect the spring? Are they being mean by making rules to protect the spring? No. They're being kind, because they're trying to keep everyone healthy with clean water. 

This verse tells us that our hearts are like that spring, and need just as much protection!

When Jesus comes to live in our hearts, he gives us new hearts—He starts the spring of fresh, clean water flowing out—and makes us more like him. Our hearts are where he tells us to hide his word, so we can remember it. Our hearts are where we make choices about our behavior… whether they are good choices or bad. The words that we say, and the attitudes we show others are like the water flowing out of our spring. Our words land on others and can bring them life and help them grow. If we let our hearts get polluted by bad ideas, bad thoughts, mean attitudes, or even movies or songs that aren't good for us, those ideas and thoughts are going to come out onto others through our words.

What are some bad attitudes, thoughts, or TV shows that might cause pollution in your heart?

The Bible tells us to protect our hearts from those things.  Part of a parent's job is to help protect your heart... we might do that by making rules for you that act like fences to keep the pollution out.  That way, what comes out of us is good for us and for others!

Photo credit: Wikipedia.org, Castle Geyser