Passages: Proverbs 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 13, 15, 20, 21, 24, 29
Big Idea: Learn to live life God’s way and you will have less to feel sad about.
Ages: 5-7
Eight lessons exploring the book of Proverbs.
A proverb is a wise saying, succinctly stated and usually very practical. The book of Proverbs is full of short statements that aim to make us wise in daily life.
The book covers many everyday topics such as relating to others (within the family, neighbourhood and beyond), keeping your word, misuse of the tongue, attitude to wealth, laziness and issues of justice.
This unit selects a number of topics covered in Proverbs and looks at what the book has to say about each topic. For example, the topic of friendship, apart from David’s friendship with Jonathan, is only found in the book of Proverbs. It is such an important topic to address with children, as friendship has the second biggest human influence on children outside the family unit.
The book outlines what it looks like to live a wise life. People fall into two categories - wise or foolish. A wise person is someone who fears God.
To fear the Lord is the beginning of living a wise life. Fear is not getting a fright or being scared. Fear is about treating someone or something with the proper respect they/it deserves. We learn to fear fire and treat fire with the proper respect it deserves. We learn to fear the Lord and to treat the Lord with the proper respect he deserves.
Human wisdom goes so far, but the wisdom of the One who made us and knows us best, is the very best wisdom of all. So fear of the Lord will mean living in obedience to his Word. To think you know better than your Creator, to ignore the wisdom of the One who made you, to think you are wiser than God…. is the very definition of foolishness.
The unit comes complete with stories, pictures, suggested songs/memory verses, games, drama activities, crafts, large and small group activities. A resource pack full of crafts and activity sheets is also included.