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LESSON 11: WISDOM IS AS WISDOM DOES

Character and a good name are built, not with increasing knowledge, but rather one choice at a time, one action at a time, one day at time. If you’ve ever learned to type you remember the hunt and peck phase. Struggling to not look down at your fingers, wearing out the backspace key, and breaking the auto-correct on your computer. If your work has forced you to keep at it, day in and day out, over any length of time, your fingers are now likely flying over the keys as you bang out emails, reports, and social media posts. You may even be able to carry on a conversation with someone while looking at them and still be typing. How did you get there? You learned to type by typing. Think also of a child learning to walk and then consider the ease and agility of an athlete. Good teaching and a pursuit of knowledge are important, but remember Jesus’ words, “the one who hears these words of mine, AND puts them into action, he is like a man who built his house upon the rock.”

Similarly, you can gain knowledge about prayer, but you will only learn to pray by praying, to share your faith by sharing your faith, to spend time in the Word by spending time in the Word, to serve by serving. Our weak efforts to put his Word into action are taken by God, empowered by his Spirit, and turned into something more. Are we encouraging the young people of the church to actively exercise their knowledge, whether a little or a lot, in a way that honors God? It is through this exercise that they will grow in wisdom and stature, and favor with God and man (Luke 2:52).

I want to leave us with a hard question. Are we leading the children by example? Can it be said of us, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7). Can we tell the children, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). By God’s grace I pray that we will not be found wanting, that we will be able to look at our spiritual children and say with the apostle John, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

BIG IDEA: Wisdom is shown in our actions.

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Proverbs 20:11-20
1 Timothy 4:12
Hebrews 13:7
1 Corinthians 11:1
Philippians 4:9

SECTION VERSE:
Then you will understand what is  right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. – Proverbs 2:9-10

LESSON VERSE:
Even small children are known by their actions, so is their conduct really pure and upright? – Proverbs 20:11

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• Read and discuss Prov. 20:11 and 1 Timothy 4:12.
• What is character? How is it formed?
• Why is important to form good habits while you are young?
• Who helps you to live wisely? Who gives you that power? (2 Peter 1:1-8)
• How can you be an example to older Christians?

– – –

ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 10: A WISE FRIEND

There are two lessons that we’d like to teach the children in this Quest. The first is how to be a friend worth choosing. The second is to choose their friends wisely. One of my favorite examples of
friendship from scripture is that of David and Jonathan. Jonathan proved to be a friend worth choosing. His loyalty, bravery, integrity, and love for David even unto death are characteristics we can all admire and seek to emulate. David chose his friend wisely and did not forget him after he was gone. “Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” – 2 Samuel 9:1. David then took Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s disabled son, and brought him into his house and treated him as family. It doesn’t stretch credulity to think that perhaps David himself shared these words of wisdom with his own son Solomon, “A friend loves at all times,” and “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another,” as he reflected back on his friendship with Jonathan.

We want our kids to have a godly desire to be, and seek God’s grace to be, that kind of friend. A friend who leads others on good paths, spurs others on to faith and good works, speaks words that edify, is loyal and reliable, looks out for their friends, brings out the best in others, and loves at all times with the sacrificial love of Christ.

Equally important is that our children wisely choose this kind of friend for themselves. How many of us have used this phrase of a young person gone astray: “He/she fell in with the wrong crowd”? Don’t misunderstand, Jesus was a friend to sinners and so should we be. However, there is a qualitative difference between the unbelieving friend, to whom you can be a witness for Christ, and a close friend with whom you have fellowship in Christ, share your deepest struggles, and depend upon to correct you when you need it. The latter must be chosen very carefully. The warnings are plenty.

“One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin” (Prov. 18:24), “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person…or you may learn their ways” (Prov. 22:24-25). “Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character” (1 Cor. 15:33). When it comes to choosing close friends we need to help the children develop a godly vision for choosing wisely.

BIG IDEA: Wisdom chooses friends carefully.

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Proverbs 18:24, 27:5-6, 22:24-25
1 Corinthians 15:33

SECTION VERSE:
Then you will understand what is  right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. – Proverbs 2:9-10

LESSON VERSE:
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. – Proverbs 17:17

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• Read and discuss Prov. 17:9-22.
• What is a friend?
• Who is your closest friend? Why?
• What does God say makes for a good friend? Not good friend?
• How can you become a good friend? (Spend time with the best friend, Jesus, in His Word and in prayer).

– – –

ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 9: WISDOM BRINGS BLESSING

“What difference can I make? I’m only one person.” I’m not sure if God laughs out loud at this statement or shakes his head in frustration. It could not be a more absurd thing to say. In the hands of a sovereign God, who works all things together according to His will, every life wisely lived in faith is a powerful tool. Let me give one astonishing example of how your life, lived with the wisdom that comes from God, can have staggering impact.

Now I could rattle off a list great people in history who made significant impacts, but that is too easy to argue against because such people are few and far between. I’d rather we look at a person like Edward Kimball. Mr. Kimball was a volunteer Sunday school teacher who in 1855 humbly and obediently exercised his God given wisdom to speak with a wayward teen about Jesus Christ and then vanish into history. That teen gave his life to Christ that day. His name was Dwight L. Moody. Young Mr. Moody then dedicated his life to leading others to Christ. His example so blessed one pastor named F.B. Meyer that he went on an evangelistic tour of America. His challenge at a conference moved another young pastor named Wilbur Chapman to begin conducting evangelistic campaigns of his own. He recruited former baseball player Billy Sunday to join him and Sunday became one of America’s most successful evangelists. A group that came to Christ at one of Billy Sunday’s campaigns, put together their own event and invited evangelist Mordecai Ham to speak. At that event another young man gave his life to Christ. His name is Billy Graham. For me the story doesn’t end there. In 1952 Billy Graham held an event at Forbes field in Pittsburgh. A father and son who were present at that event came forward in response to the gospel and gave their lives to Jesus Christ in faith. Their names are Frank and Richard Meyers. My grandfather and father. So, you see, one ordinary man like us, a Sunday school teacher, simply lived in godly wisdom, and more than 100 years later is still leaving a legacy of blessing.

Never underestimate the power of the witness of your life. God told Abraham, “through you all nations of the earth will be blessed.” Solomon reminds us that doing what is wise will lift up those around us, while the unwise bring only grief and ruin to their family, their community, and themselves. God told
the returning Israelites in Zechariah 8:13 that they had been saved in order to be a blessing among the nations. We were saved for the same reason; to be a blessing. Wisdom recognizes our purpose and lives in it joyfully. Thank you Mr. Kimball!

BIG IDEA: When we do what is right, we bless those around us.

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Proverbs 14:34
Jeremiah 29:7
Psalm 67Proverbs 14:34
Jeremiah 29:7
Psalm 67

SECTION VERSE:
Then you will understand what is  right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. – Proverbs 2:9-10

LESSON VERSE:
Doing what is right lifts people up. But sin brings judgment to any nation. – Proverbs 14:34

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• Read and discuss Prov. 14:26-35.
• Can you think of a time when you or someone else got everyone in trouble by doing the wrong thing?
• How can your right actions bless those around you? In your family, school, country?
• Mom or Dad, can you trace your history of faith to faithful servants of God? Why not share that story?

– – –

ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 8: WISDOM DELIGHTS IN THE LORD

Does God really want us to have the desires of our hearts? A quick reading of Psalm 37:4 seems to point us in that direction. Proverbs 13:12 lays out the very common sense principle that a longing or desire fulfilled is a blessing, while hope deferred is discouraging. We can all relate to that. But what of our ungodly desires? Here in lies the danger of reading any scripture in isolation, disconnected from its context and from the whole counsel of God on any subject. Let’s look at Psalm 37 a little closer and then at the words of Jesus regarding this subject.

In its context, Psalm 37 is a call to patience before the Lord when it seems like the wicked are prospering. Specifically the child of God is called to active waiting. “Trust in the Lord and do good” (vs 3), “Take delight in the Lord” (vs 4), “Commit your way to the Lord” (vs 5). Receiving the desires of your heart is set in the context of this attitude of the heart. I will ask you, if you are trusting in the Lord and doing good, delighting in the Lord, and committing your way to the Lord, what kinds of deep desires do you think will take root in your heart, the godly variety or the worldly variety? When we delight in, find our joy in, the Lord, He becomes the desire of our hearts and there is nothing that the Lord wants to give us more than Himself. When we have Him, we begin to share His desires. Jesus reinforces this point in Matthew 6 where he exhorts his followers not to worry about the needs or wants of this world, but instead to desire first God, His Kingdom, and His goodness. The Father will take care of our needs, but He wants to be our one desire. In His presence there is fullness of joy. His presence is the good in the good news.

This is my cry, my one desire
Just to be where You are, Lord
Now and forever it’s more than a song
My one desire is to be with You
Is to be with You Jesus
(Songwriters: Joel Houston, One Desire lyrics © Capitol Christian Music Group)

BIG IDEA: Wisdom desires the things of God.

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Proverbs 13:12
Psalm 37:4-6
Psalm 145:19
Proverbs 11:23
Romans 8:27

SECTION VERSE:
Then you will understand what is  right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. – Proverbs 2:9-10

LESSON VERSE:
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. – Psalm 37:4

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• Read and discuss Prov. 13:12 and Psalm 37:4-5.
• What are some of your desires?
• What is God’s desire for all of us? (relationship w/ Him, peace, joy, love, purpose,…)
• On what should we base our desires?
• How can you apply what you learned in Quest this week?

– – –

ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 7: WISDOM CONTROLS THE TONGUE

Sitting in a small Indian village in Brazil with a half dozen other men under a thatched roof shelter, I couldn’t believe my good fortune. We were about to have the opportunity to hear from an Indian pastor with more than forty years of experience preaching the gospel in some of the most remote parts of Brazil, in tribal communities where a white man like me would never be allowed to set foot. His grandfather had been one of the first of their tribe to come to faith in Jesus. This man had stories to tell and I was anxious to hear them. Unfortunately, a younger, less experienced brother that we had brought with us from the city, thought that this was his opportunity to “one up” the pastor by sharing secondhand missionary stories he had heard at a missions conference! It was all I could do to guard my own tongue to keep from telling him to just shut it. How foolish he was making himself look. What an education he was missing out on, but he continued undeterred. My embarrassment for him made me squirm in my seat. Lesson number one: the wise listen and add to their learning. You know what you know. Repeating it out loud simply to have something to say or to attempt to impress others is the height of foolishness and adds nothing to your understanding.

Sadly the tongue can do even more harm than just to stifle our learning. It can cut down those we love, destroy relationships, cause division, foolishly commit us to an unwise course, and heap dishonor on ourselves, our family, and the people of God. I could go on. James says, “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire.” This same tongue we use to sing praises, to pray, to profess our love for others, and preach the gospel, is a dangerous piece of equipment to ourselves and those around us, if not kept in check by the Holy Spirit.

So the next time you are at a dinner party make it your goal to listen and add to your wisdom. And when you do speak you “should do so as one who speaks the very words of God” (1 Peter 4:11). Words that build others up and bless our Father in heaven.

BIG IDEA: Wisdom listens more than it speaks.

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Proverbs 13:1-3
James 3:1-11
Proverbs 10:19, 12:15, 17:27, 19:20, 29:20

SECTION VERSE:
Then you will understand what is  right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. – Proverbs 2:9-10

LESSON VERSE:
People who are careful about what they say will save their lives, but those who speak without thinking will be destroyed. – Proverbs 13:3

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• Read Proverbs 13:1-3 out loud and discuss, verse by verse. Repeat with James 3:1-11.
• Have you ever said something you wish you hadn’t?
• How can we guard our mouths? How?
• Why is it better to listen than it is to speak?
• How can you apply what you learned in Quest this week?

– – –

ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 6: WISDOM IS HONEST AND DILIGENT

It is easy to complain about having to work when you have unpleasant work to do, but become unemployed or be completely idle without anything meaningful to accomplish and the attitude changes dramatically. We were created to work. Work is a blessing, not a curse. In Genesis 2:15 we see God’s plan before the fall, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Work includes your vocation, as well as your studies, your chores around the house, and your service in the body of Christ, the church. If work is a blessing from God then we should expect to see some instruction regarding the quality or character of our work. As with other blessings, there is a principle at work in work. When our work is done diligently, with excellence and honesty, we, generally speaking, will enjoy success in our endeavors. “Work hard and become a leader, but laziness will end in forced labor.” “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.”

It seems like a lot of rules to keep track of and follow. Be honest. Be diligent, Be hardworking. The good news is that God provides us the key to unlocking the blessing of work and it is a key that we can and should pass along to our children. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving,” Colossians 3:23-24. Wisdom recognizes that it is God who has ultimately blessed us with the work we have to do. Wisdom recognizes that He is the one we desire to please with our integrity, our honesty, and our diligence. When you are a child of the living God there is no secular work. Our studies, our vocation, our chores, and our service to the body has been set apart, sanctified, to honor our heavenly Father. Wisdom recognizes the joy and victory to be had in working as unto to the Lord and rejoices in the blessing.

BIG IDEA: Wisdom is honest and hardworking.

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Proverbs 10:1-9
Proverbs 12:24
Colossians 3:23-24

SECTION VERSE:
Then you will understand what is  right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. – Proverbs 2:9-10

LESSON VERSE:
Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out. – Proverbs 10:9

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• Read Proverbs 10:1-9 out loud and discuss, verse by verse. Do the same with Colossians 3:23-24 and Proverbs 12:24.
• How do you feel when you finish a job well? Not well?
• How can doing all your work for Jesus change how you feel about work?
•  How can you apply what you learned in Quest this week?

– – –

ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 5: A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

Have you ever woken in the night and, not wanting to wake anyone, left the lights off while you groped your way around the house to the bathroom or to get a glass of water? Your eyes are adjusted to the darkness so you can get around reasonably well, for the most part not smashing your shins on anything, and find your way to familiar rooms. However, if you have had small children you probably also remember them leaving sharp and pointy objects in places they don’t belong. Your eyes, even with your night vision, aren’t sharp enough to pick up those dangers lurking in your path. Nothing hurts quite like a lego on a barefoot under your full body weight. Of course turning on the lights would have averted all of that danger.

In life we can deceive ourselves into believing that we are in the light because we are not “living like the world,” when in fact we may be walking in self-imposed darkness. Because we have lived so long in this present darkness, that is the fallen world, our spiritual eyes may have adjusted, giving us the false sense that we can see clearly. The apostle John tells us to “walk in the light as He is in the light.” God is “light” he goes on, and in Him is no darkness at all. Not even a little. How do we turn on the lights and keep them on? First by recognizing our condition before our Father and then by having fellowship with Jesus, the Light of the world, the living Word of God. David says as much in Psalm 119:105, “your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light to my path.” All wisdom begins and ends with submitting to God’s word, His plan, His sovereign will. Every other thing that sets itself up as wisdom is a cheap imitation “for the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom.” As we offer our bodies and our minds to God in the word and in prayer he is faithful to transform our darkness into His light, “for even darkness is as light” to our God. Having the very mind of Christ means having a divinely illuminated mind that sees the world and all of its pitfalls through the eyes of the Creator. Turn on the lights and help our children to do the same.

BIG IDEA: Wisdom is a light in the darkness.

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Proverbs 6:12-23
Psalm 119
Psalm 1:1-3

SECTION VERSE:
Then you will understand what is  right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. – Proverbs 2:9-10

LESSON VERSE:
For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and correction and instruction are the way to life. – Proverbs 6:23

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• Read Proverbs 6:12-23 out loud and discuss, verse by verse.
• What are the consequences of sin and wickedness?
• What are some of those things God hates?
• What should we do with God’s wisdom?

– – –

ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.

LESSON 4: WHAT ARE YOU STORING UP?

Guard your heart for everything you do flows from it. A guard has two functions. The first is to keep out anyone or anything that will cause harm or does not have the owners permission to enter. The second is to allow in those persons or things that the owner has authorized. Why is a guard on the heart so critical? We’ve all used the expression, “garbage in, garbage out,” and are familiar with its implications in any type of analytical task. It can be equally applied to our heart (the biblical center of the will and emotions). How about this positive version of the expression, “Jesus in, Jesus out”? Both are biblical principles are they not? Regulating what goes in to the heart is directly connected to what will come out.

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. (Luke 6:45)

How does a person guard or protect their heart then? One would be correct to say, “Flee the evil desires of youth!” (2 Tim 2:22) However that is only half of the truth. We are taught by God’s word that lasting heart health can only be achieved when we flee FROM those things of lesser value and TO some One of infinitely greater value. The passage cited above continues, “and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace.” Flee and pursue. How? We flee by creating distance between ourself and temptation, by turning our backs on the twisted values of the world. We pursue by “looking on” Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, by setting our hearts and minds on things above, by thinking about whatever is “true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable.” Finally, this call to flee and pursue is meant to be carried out in community. Let’s look again at our passage in full, “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” Let us encourage the children to guard their hearts with us.

BIG IDEA: Wisdom guards my heart.

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Proverbs 4:20-27
2 Timothy 2:22
Philippians 4:6-8
Psalm 101:3
Colossians 3:1-2

SECTION VERSE:
Then you will understand what is  right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. – Proverbs 2:9-10

LESSON VERSE:
A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. – Luke 6:45

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• Read Proverbs 4:20-27 out loud and discuss, verse by verse.
• How can we help keep our heart clean?
• Name some things that are not good to put in your heart. How about some good things?
• How can you apply what you learned in Quest this week?

– – –

ABOUT FAMILY QUEST: At Reston Bible Church, we firmly believe that parents are a child’s first and most important spiritual leader.  In order to support you that mission, we have created a parent devotional and some discussion starters to go along with each lesson your grade school age children are learning at Quest on Sundays. Our hope and prayer is that this material will help you to engage with your children around the topics they are learning on Sunday mornings, answer their questions, go deeper with them, and find real, day-to-day applications. We are honored to be able to partner with you in the critical task of sharing Christ with the next generation.