WISDOM
The PDF of this Lesson...
With a Game (in Various PDFs), the Quiz, and Verses to Memorize
Being able to use the things that I know to make right decisions in my life.
How would you like to be a king? It would be great to have people wait on you and to order others around. It would also be a big job. You would be responsible for the lives of many people. You would be faced with many hard decisions and you would need to know what to do.
This was the situation that Solomon found himself in. His father, King David, had died and now Solomon sat on the throne. Solomon was a just a young man and he was often faced with big decisions. What should he do? He really wanted to do the right thing.
One night God spoke to Solomon in a dream. He said, “Solomon, I want to give you one wish. What would you like?” I wonder what you would ask for? Here are a few things that students your age said they would wish for – a four-wheeler, a puppy, a bike. These things are nice, but they won’t last very long.
Solomon could have asked for long life, great wealth or fame. Instead he asked for something that pleased God very much. Solomon knew that it was a hard job to be a king and he didn’t always know what to do, so he asked God to give him wisdom to rule the people of Israel well. God said, “Because you have made such a wonderful choice I am giving you an understanding heart, one that will be wiser than anyone before and anyone else who will ever live after you. I am also going to give you both riches and fame and if you obey my commandments I will bless you with long life too.”
It came true. Many people came to Solomon with hard problems and he had the wisdom to solve them all. He wrote over 3000 wise sayings called proverbs and over 1000 songs. Kings and queens came from far away to seek his advice. He also studied many things like plants, trees and animals and wrote down what he learned about them.
Solomon observed that four creatures were very wise. He wrote about each of them in his proverbs. First, he said that ANTS are very wise. God made lots of ants, didn’t He? You never see an ant just sitting around. They are always busy. God made ants very fast and very strong for their size and He placed inside of them the desire to always work and to prepare for the future.
We can be wise by following their example. God made us to work and serve others. It isn’t right to be lazy and not help around the house. There are always jobs to be done. Solomon then wrote that the ROCK BADGER was wise. While he doesn’t have sharp teeth or claws to fight with, he knows how to stay safe from his enemy, the eagle. When an eagle sees a rock badger on the ground he goes into a steep dive to try to catch and eat him. The badger doesn’t try to fight the eagle, instead he uses his best defense, he dives quickly and deeply into his rock burrow (home). The eagle has no way of getting in there.
Satan, our enemy, wants to “devour” us. He wants us to disobey Jesus and to give in to sin. Jesus is called our “rock”. When we are tempted we can safely run to Him for protection and help.
GRASSHOPPERS or locusts are wise because even though they have no leader, they work together to get a job done, even if it is eating an entire field of crops.
If you have asked Jesus to forgive your sins and you are part of God’s family you will be wise to realize that Jesus is your leader and that He wants you to work with other Christians to get His work done here on earth. We should work together so that others will learn how to have their sins forgiven and know how to get to heaven.
Finally Solomon wrote about the SPIDER. Many people tried to come into Solomon’s palace, but they needed his permission to do so. Not so with the spider. Up in the corner of Solomon’s throne room a spider worked hard at weaving a web to catch flies. He was not invited, but he boldly went and worked when he got there.
We can be wise like the spider if we will be bold to speak out for Jesus wherever He sends us. We will work and witness where we are. You may be too young to go to another country to be a missionary, but you CAN be a missionary right where you are now. You could tell others about Jesus in your school, neighborhood and family.
The opposite of wisdom is foolishness. Nobody wants to be a fool. People laugh at fools and fools have lots of problems because they make bad choices. Wouldn’t you rather be wise? Wisdom comes from God, who is all-wise. He always knows the right thing to do and He never makes a mistake. He will help you make right choices too! The Bible says,
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. James 1:5
Will you ask God to make you wise in all your ways?
Curriculum by: Mark Redka (CBM)