As your students enter, ask them in which area of school or life they feel the smartest. It could be a school subject, a musical instrument, an athletic skill, an artistic skill, or something else. Share your own area of expertise as well.
For some of us, school comes easier than for others. For some, sports or art comes easily. There are a few people out there who are exceptionally gifted. Check out this video of a twelve-year-old with an incredible photographic memory.
Play the following video [4:03; stop at 2:06]:
12-Year-Old With A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY | Child Genius
- Would you want to be that smart? (Answers will vary and could include things such as yes, school would be easy and I could help a lot of people; or no, that would be a lot of pressure or I wouldn’t want to spend my childhood learning a bunch of things, etc.)
- Why do you think Mog is so smart? (Answers might include: genetics, just born that way, gift from God, spends lots of time studying, etc.)
- If you could ask God for anything in the world, would you ask to be smart like those kids? If not, what would you ask for? (Encourage real, feasible answers, not superpowers like flying or being invisible such as: Yes, you could do anything if you were that smart or no I’d ask to win the lottery/be in the NBA, etc.)
- How are being smart and being wise two different things? (Encourage discussion. Your students may recognize that testing high in school subjects does not necessarily mean someone is wise. Being smart—having knowledge—is about knowing facts and ideas whereas wisdom is the ability to discern and judge whether those facts are true and applicable to your life.)
- Can you think of some examples of being smart but not wise? (Allow students to speculate. If no one can answer, you can share Psalm 14:1—“the fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Someone who studies science might decide to be an atheist—they know a lot of information, but are foolish, not wise.)
Being as smart as Mog doesn’t happen to many people. Our Bible story for today tells of someone who had a rare amount of something even better than being smart—wisdom. Let’s see how his story plays out.
