Wisdom Leading to Grace

Justin talks with his 6-year old son and 4-year old daughter about Proverbs 3. Watch as he finds ways to make a study with his two younger children fun for all!

You can watch the video of this study at www.youtube.com/appianmedia

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Hi there, my name is Justin Dobbs, and this is listen, my children, I'm a husband, I'm a dad, and I'm learning to do what a lot of you are doing, one of the most difficult but most important things I'll ever do, bring up my children to follow the father. Over the next three episodes, we're going to keep walking through the first five chapters of Proverbs, you, me and our kids. Listen, my children podcast is made possible by a donation from the Oliver family, we're thankful for their generous support of Appian medius content. If you or your organization is interested in helping to fund content like this, please contact us through our website at Appian Media dot org. Now, today, Amos and Jubilee are going to be joining us. Amos is six, Jubilee is four, and it's a really fun age for both of them. I don't have favorite ages, but these are some fun ones. We're going to go listen in on this conversation that we had in our living room recently. And we'll be talking through Proverbs three, 13 through 15. So if you want to open your Bibles to Proverbs three, that be great as we talk about how wisdom leads to a life of grace. If you listen carefully, so we're going to talk some more about the Book of Proverbs, OK? Are you with me? Ready to go now? I've talked with Elijah and Linden about some more proverbs, but now you talk with you about Proverbs Chapter three. And what I'd like to do is help you think through some of this to remember what a proverb is. No, it's. Something together. That's right, yes. When you take two things, Amus, and you take two things and you lay them down side by side and you sort of show a new idea by taking two things and comparing them, as you say, two things in the parables. Right. I like hearing this thing in. Yeah. Like when you talk about in the cellar. Yes. Sowing the seed is like the person who hears God's word. And so it's like the seed going up in his heart. Daddy, when he put a stick down and I'm dead, snake down. Well, that wasn't Jesus was. Who was that? Who put the stick down. It became a snake. Who is that? Moses. I was moved. God gave Moses the power when you put this. Yeah. Yeah. But that's a different kind of laying down here than these properties. Proverbs are laying down of ideas, not laying down like sticks. These are laying down of thoughts down like a brain and a heart. Yeah, that's right. Laying down to see the stick or stick. Sort of the idea. Now in this. This study, we're going to talk about laying down wisdom and laying down a path, a path like a walking path. OK, so I'd like for you to do well. I'll explain. What I'd like for you to do is to listen while I read a little bit and then we'll talk it through. OK, you ready? Yep, OK, Proverbs three, verse 13, Blessed is the one who finds wisdom and the one who gets understanding for the gain from her is better than gained from Silver and her profit and better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her long life is in her right hand. In her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of business, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Those who hold her fast are called blessed. The Lord by wisdom founded the Earth by understanding. He established the heavens, by his knowledge of the deeps broke open and the clouds drop down the do. My son do not lose sight of these. Keep sound wisdom and discretion. And they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely and your foot will not stumble. If you lie down, you will not be afraid. When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked when it comes to the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor go and come again tomorrow. I will give it when you have it with you. Do not plan evil against your neighbor who who dwells trustingly. Besides, you do not contend with a man for no reason when he's done you no harm, do not envy a man of violence, and do not choose any of his ways with the devious person is an abomination to the Lord. But the upright are in his confidence. The Lord's curse is on the house of the Wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous toward the schooners. He is scornful, but to the humble, he gives favor. The wise will inherit honor, but fools disgrace. Now, I've got a few things to share with you, but before I share them with you, let me get your questions. What was your question? What's disgrace, what's disgrace, you hold onto yours, Amos, I'll get with you just a second, but disgrace, disgrace is when was it when you feel really bad because things didn't go right and things didn't go well and you feel like you've been defeated and you feel embarrassed, almost less disgrace. You feel scared. And it's not just being scared, but it's sort of like, imagine if you were wearing a crown and someone said, no, you can't wear that crown anymore. And they took it from you and you were made to go away from the throne and you had to leave, that would be like disgraced saying this was yours. Well, instead, it's it in this case, instead of an evil woman, it's a good woman. Oh, my God. Yeah. So so Bangun gives you a blessing. So let's talk about this. OK, well, we just read there are lots of things here, but I just want to point out just a few things. Ok, can you follow me on just a few things? Yeah, so first of all, wisdom is a blessing and it's sort of like a path. We we want to lay down two things here, wisdom. And here's a path now. When you're walking through the woods and there's no path, no path, what's in your way in the woods? God, no, if you're just walking in the woods, there's trees that needs thorns and thistles and all sorts of things like moving those things to get is kind of hard to go through, isn't it? Yeah. Now, if you have a path, it makes things a lot easier. You can't you have to follow that path and lead you not to destruction. Sometimes it is do, but the path is a whole lot easier if it's the right path and it's a good path. And you know, that path is taking where you're going. Wisdom sort of like that. Wisdom is like a path, choosing the right, choosing the right way where there are no stones, no sticks, no rocks, no thorns. And if this was again, what wisdom is like the right way to go, which means that when you trust God and you will be gone your way through life will be a lot easier. It will be a lot easier when you trust God and follow God dribbling. They won't be things that get up in your way when you obey. God does sound good. And now when you're scared, you know, and it'll keep you from being scared. That's right. Because it talks about when you lie down, you won't be afraid. This is right there. Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked when it comes. But the first thing is God gives you a path. Now, here's the second thing. You give me the second thing. Hold on just a second. The second thing is this following God's path is the right way to go. Have we ever played checkers together? Huh? Now, can you play checkers just any way you want to? No, no, no. And sometimes when when you were when you were younger and we try to play checkers, you might try to go straight across or jump over far. And you didn't quite play by the rules, did you, because you didn't know the rules. Right. And you didn't understand. Now, can you win checkers if you don't play by the rules? Nope. Nope. You'd be cheating. Did you know that life has rules to it? No, God knows. Yeah, God worked rules right into the world. And if you don't play by the rules. And then you can't win without being gone. If you that God, you are not be blessed, you lose. And that's what it means by the Lord, by wisdom founded the Earth. He made the world according to the rules of wisdom. And when you don't use wisdom, then you're not playing by the rules. And you're also not using the same wisdom that he used in making the world. God has really powerful wisdom and he uses it to build the world up to the way that it should be. Now, here's the last thing. You stay with me for this last thing you said, I'm back. You explain. You're ready. Wisdom teaches us that God wants to do is good. And when we receive good from God, what should we do with that good? Usually good way. That's right. You get lots of money to buy good things. Yeah, that'll help you. So when you receive good, you do good. And that's what this last bit is for, is when it's in your power to do good because you've received good from God's wisdom. Wisdom teaches you to use those things for good for other people. Wisdom, wisdom from God shows us the right way to live, and it keeps us from doing bad things. Makes sense since returning. Yes, I understand. I'll give it to you tomorrow and you have it. Oh, yeah. So we read that right. So I understand. So want you come my when you have it. Well, one of the good things to do is you ever, ever wanted to borrow something from, like, Alija or one of your other siblings or you want to borrow money from Linden and they have it and they might let you borrow it, but they're not using it. But they say. Not right now. And there's no good reason for them not to give it. They just don't want to give it, does that feel very good? Now, imagine you say they can say yes or no, but it's not very gracious of them, is it? And it's the same way for you if someone comes to you and says, can I borrow that? And you go, oh, not right now. That's kind of being selfish. It's kind of being selfish. And so God's wisdom teaches us not to be selfish. It teaches us to be givers and not takers. Does that make sense? We'll read some more in a little bit. OK, I'm glad you want to read, but how about right now? We pray. We want to pray about this wisdom some good. All right. Let's bring in father. Thank you for Amos and Jubilee and for this time to talk about your wisdom. Thank you for showing us the right way to go and for giving us a good path to walk on in life. Take us where you want us to go. Lead us where you want us to be and uses for good fathers. You keep us safe and you show us the rules to life. Help us and to show others help us and to be givers just like you are to be gracious. We want to live with your grace guiding us and Your Grace helping us to be gracious to others. Thank you for Amos and Jubilee and for our family. Help us to walk with you and please be with all your people everywhere who read the Book of Proverbs and learn more about your wisdom in the name of Jesus. We pray. Amen. Thanks, Kiddo's. Ok, thanks for joining me and Amos and Jubilee for that conversation in Proverbs three, well, Proverbs three shows and says that God wants to bless us. And he uses wisdom to do it. God uses this amazing wisdom to show us the rules of the universe. He used wisdom to build this world. And it's that same wisdom is behind the power of the words he gives us in the Book of Proverbs. So couple of questions for you is how can you live as a family by God's rules? And how does God's wisdom, God's gift of wisdom, lead you to be givers yourselves? Maybe that's something that you as a family can work through together. OK, parents, there are a few things I'd like to talk with you about this one. This conversation with Amos and Jubilee really represents some of my earlier years doing Bible devotions, family worship, time with our kids. I remember sitting there with Elijah when he was one and we would read through a chapter of Luke at a time, Luke Wright's long chapters, and I've learned some since then. But when you throw to young ones together, it can be especially challenging. Elijah and Linden weren't so much of a challenge, but Amos and Jubilee pose a different sort of threat to a parent who's trying to distill some of God's wisdom. So a couple of things to avoid. This episode was shot just after lunch. So it's naptime jubilee as zonked, Amos is jazzed. I'm all about choosing regular times for worship with your family, regular times where you can talk about God's word together and you would suppose at any time would work. But no, your family know your children's limits. This was not the best time to do a Bible study with my kids. But but we got it in and we worked through it. And the thing is that they're going to be times when you schedule the best possible time and your kids just still aren't there with you. Maybe it was a long day. Maybe something emotional has happened. Maybe you're tired. The truth was, I had just had lunch and I was a little zonked myself. I felt like this whole discussion could have gone a lot better. But we had it. And I wanted you to see that. I want us to recognize that not every time we sit down with our children, with our Bibles open, it's not always going to feel magical. It's not always going to be a home run. But it's important that we keep trying to do it. Now, those regular intervals of bite sized information where we're teaching our kids, they do build up and we do get to their hearts. So it's kind of hard to stay on track. Amos interrupting some Jubilee's a little fuzzy. I'm a little fuzzy, but what you need to do is you just stay with it. You keep doing it. And there are times where as a family, I recognize our our children aren't with it tonight. We've been having trouble obeying all day. Maybe mommy is super tired. Whatever's going on. It may be that tonight we don't do what we had normally planned to do. Maybe tonight we read a short psalm, we sing a song together, we pray and that's it. I don't try to force our children into a mold that I had preconceived. This is where we need to go. My plans are always good and so I need to readjust. And so let me encourage you to keep doing what you're doing. Readjusts as needed. Sometimes our plans need adjustments, but guards don't. So you keep up with the plan that God has for you and your family to know him. Your children will follow along now. Next time, I believe we'll be talking with Amos and Linden as we discuss Proverbs four and how to get wisdom.