The book of Proverbs is a book of life-giving advice and ominous warning. The advice is to pursue wisdom, “making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding” (Proverbs 2:2). The warning is to avoid folly, pondering the path of your feet, not swerving to the right or to the left, turning your foot away from evil (Proverbs 4:26-27). This teaching from Proverbs 1:32-33 is very black and white, clearly instructing, even pleading with us to pursue wise living, and sounding forceful alarms regarding the foolishness of abandoning wisdom.
For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them...
That’s a clear warning: Avoid foolishness because it leads to destruction.
but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.
That’s very good advice: Listen to wisdom because it leads to life. It sounds so simple. And yet it is so hard to live out.
Why? Because “folly is bound up in the heart” (Proverbs 22:15). To avoid foolishness and pursue wisdom requires denying our sinful nature; it requires a heart change—“inclining your heart to understanding” (Proverbs 2:2). And
only Jesus can do that. We will not pursue wisdom, life-giving though it is, left to our own devices. We are bent on destruction from birth. But Jesus can change our hearts and set our feet on the path of wisdom.
However, wisdom must be pursued. It takes effort, discipline, and a teachable heart. It also takes instruction. The young and moldable must be diligently and relentlessly instructed. The wise must teach the naive.
The Way of the Wise curriculum was written so that the wise may have a tool to teach the naive, and so that the naive may be encouraged to pursue wisdom.
This newly revised Midweek curriculum contrasts wisdom and foolishness. By showing the destination of the foolish as eternal punishment and the destination of the wise as life and joy for eternity, the folly of foolishness and the reward of wisdom is evident.
In order to identify each, the characteristics of the foolish person and of the wise person are engagingly presented. Students are challenged to look beyond outward behavior and examine their hearts. Using the book of Proverbs, the teaching in The Way of the Wise encourages children to pursue wisdom and to shun folly.
Target Grade: Grade 3
Grade Range: Grade 2 - Grade 5
Curriculum Sample and Scope & Sequence
How is this revision different from the original version?
The revised curriculum is much easier for teachers to use and more engaging for students.
- A new lesson format makes it easier to teach, with clearly labeled visual prompts and symbols to indicate student participation.
- A teacher preparation section includes a lesson introduction, specific instructions for use of visuals, answer guides, and preparation of additional resources.
- Lesson concepts are more clearly explained and the small group application section has been improved to help the student engage in, and apply, biblical truth.
- The visuals have been redesigned with original illustrations and artwork that can be used in print or electronic format.
The rich, Bible-saturated, God-centered, theologically-rich content, including the intentional use of Bible passages in which the students are actively participating in reading and studying, as well as the variety of teaching methods that engage the mind, heart and will.
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