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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?

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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.