I had a full house today with Tanecia, Robin, and Ryan in class for this first time this year, so we were able to have a good lesson. The only problem was that I forgot my Sunday School Material at home so I grabbed an old lesson book and picked a lesson at random. We ended up with another lesson about Solomon and his prayer for wisdom, covering the same scripture as last week.
This week though we started with a list of things and discussed if they were right or wrong.
Cheating on a test—Wrong
The death penalty—2 Right and 1 Wrong
Downloading music—Could be either
Copying someone else’s homework—Wrong
Not leaving a tip—Could be either
Breaking the speed limit—Depends on why you are doing it
Keeping a library book over the due date—Wrong
Going to a party where there is drinking—Wrong
Hurting someone in self defense—Right
Cheating on a girlfriend/boyfriend—Wrong
Racing cars with friends—Wrong unless it is on a race track
Sneaking out after the parents are asleep—Wrong
Using lunch money to buy music—Right
Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between something that is wrong and those things that are just a matter of personal opinion. Sometimes people think certain things are “not really that bad”or “only a little wrong” in an attempt to justify their actions. Some things might be considered right by some people and wrong by others. Discovering what is right can be tricky. It takes wisdom to discern right from wrong. Let’s look at a time when God granted wisdom to Solomon, a king of Israel, who was legendary for his wisdom.
In 1 Kings 3:1-15 we learn that Solomon was David’s son and that after David died Solomon took the throne as king. Solomon was only in his early 20’s when he became ruler of Israel. Because he was so young he prayed for God to give him wisdom. God answered Solomon’s prayer saying, “I will give you a wise and discerning heart.” During his rule Solomon faced a difficult situation where he needed to use his God-given wisdom.
Reading on in 1 Kings 3:16-25 Solomon is presented a problem. Two women claim to both be the mother of a single child, each claiming the others child had died in the night. Solomon used his wisdom and asked for a sword. When the women asked why he needed a sword Solomon told them he would divide the baby in half and each mother would receive part of the child. One woman told Solomon to go ahead and kill the baby, the other cried out not to kill the child and instead to give it to the other woman. When he heard this Solomon knew that the second woman was the child’s mother, because her love would not let the child be hurt, so he gave the baby to her.
What would you have decided if you had been Solomon?
What process would you have used to come to your decision?
What was your reaction to Solomon’s decision?
In verses 26-28 we read that the people of Israel stood in awe of Solomon and saw that he had the wisdom of God.
Wisdom is not reserved only for people who have lived for a long time; wisdom is a quality of God that He wants to pass on to His children. It is something that will guide us and protects us as long as we live. But how can we find it? The answer is in Proverbs 2:3-6, where we read these words: “If you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding.” The answer then, is to ask God to give us His wisdom, just like Solomon did.
We talked about an area where we would need God’s wisdom, the popular answer was school. The three ways we could seek God’s wisdom to help us with the troubles, both academic and social, of school were to pray, to read the Bible, and to attend church to gain the wisdom God has for us.
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