Proverbs. Kids needum. And they’re ready-built for kid ears.
Here are a few ways that the wisdom of Yhwh appeals to the young and malleable. When the proverbial father says, “Listen my son,” he then proceeds to focus on what is…
STUPID
Kid’s like to call things stupid. Heck… I like to call things stupid too. Especially when I am calling evil “stupid” in front of my kids: Guess who is stupid? Those who hate wisdom and instruction. I mean… idiots, really. (Don’t be offended, friend – This doesn’t have to be you.)
HEROIC
The Lion of Judah wrote words that lionize the spiritually fruitful. Because the wise (those who have the fruit of the Spirit blossoming from their tongues and hands and feet) they are heroes! Everybody wants to be righteous, you know? Everyone who’s anyone wants to respect his father and mother. No one is cooler than a wise man. That guy who saves his money and works hard…awesome!
UNFORGETTABLE IN PICTURES
Prostitutes are ugly and scary…their gaping mouths are graves.
Stolen bread will make your gut a bag of rocks. Then it isn’t so fun to eat anymore.
Fools go eat dinner with zombies sitting in a grave in hell. Oops. Don’t go there.
Robert Louis Stevenson, from Treasure Island
Lustful men light matches on their zippers and then set the flame down on their privy parts. Good idea, eh?
Girls who are beautiful, but not wise, are like jewelry covered in pig-snot. Go fix that.
Lazy people are so afraid to act… because, you know, the monsters out there might get me if I go outside.
CHALLENGING
Do your kids like a treasure hunt? Tell them to find wisdom under every rock. If they hunt it down, they will have rooms full of fine treasures. Tell them nothing is more worthwhile than the treasure hunt. Tell them that when they find it, they should cling to it. Oh, and tell them that the treasure map starts in chapter 1 of Proverbs, where they meet a guardian sphinx. They can answer this dark riddle to pass: Do you fear Yhwh?
But Oooooh to get your hands on a hunk of that TREASURE inside!!!
Teach your treasure hunters to pass the gate, storm the store room, and find some jewel encrusted, shining, golden plate. Show them how to do this, and then ask them to hold it up in the sun so they can recognize the reflection of their own face in it.
Cause that’s what kids like. And since their proverbial father Yhwh, when he made kids and when he made the book of proverbs, knew who he was writing to.
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Luke Welch has a master’s degree from Covenant Seminary and preaches regularly in a conservative Anglican church in Maryland. He blogs about Bible structure at SUBTEXT. Follow him on Twitter: @lukeawelch<>
