Dare 2B Wise: 10 minute devotions 2 inspire courageous living

By Joe White and Kelli Stuart

In cooperation with Focus on the Family, Dare 2B Wise delivers 150 two-page devotionals that any parent can do with teenagers—or that teens and parents can enjoy on their own.

Funny thing. Most parents would give their life for their child, but they have a hard time giving up ten minutes a day to do devotions with them. Why is that? Bestselling author Joe White and Kelli Stuart believe it is simply because they have not found the right tool. Well, here it is.

In cooperation with Focus on the Family, Dare 2B Wise delivers 150 two-page devotionals that any parent can do with teenagers—or that teens and parents can enjoy on their own. Each devotional has four parts: a bite of Proverbs, a quick-read application (usually with a twist), a few discussion starters, and a Lifeline (a prayer point, a unique insight, or a personal challenge). This book is just what most committed parents are looking for.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Howard Books
• Release date: Jun 15, 2010
• ISBN: 9781451605266

Book preview

1. wise up

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young—let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.

—Proverbs 1:1–6

An old bumper sticker that was popular in Texas read, If you don’t have an oil well, get one! The obvious joke was that everyone would like to have an oil well, but getting one is a lot easier said than done. The message of the book of Proverbs is similar: If you don’t have wisdom, get some! But unlike the bumper sticker, the message of Proverbs is no joke. And unlike the humorous slogan, Proverbs doesn’t tell you to get something—wisdom—without telling you how.

The highest goal you can set for yourself, the best use you can make of your time, and the smartest choice you can make in life is to follow the advice of Proverbs and get wisdom. But what is wisdom? The meaning of that word is fuzzy, isn’t it? That’s because people use the word wisdom to mean all sorts of different things.

In the Bible the word wisdom means the skill to live God’s way. It comes through gaining understanding about how God wants you to live and then applying that understanding by putting it into practice in your daily life. If you do that over the course of your life, you’ll be wise! And being wise is better than being rich, popular, famous, a great athlete, or any of the other earthly goals we set for ourselves.

So if I want to get wisdom, where do I start? Tomorrow we’ll look at the first step on the exciting, lifelong journey of becoming wise.

discussion starters

1. What does wisdom mean to you? How is being wise different from being smart?

2. Why do you think it’s important to God that we get wisdom?

Pray that God will give you wisdom as you study the book of Proverbs and help you to apply the things you learn in your daily life.

2. start with God

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

—Proverbs 1:7

If you want to be wise, you must start with God. In fact, you must not only start with God but finish with God and walk with God every step of the way. If you start anywhere else, you’ll never be wise—no matter how hard you try. The only wisdom worth having is God’s wisdom. And he gives us this wisdom as we diligently seek him. Seeking him basically means two things: (1) learning how he wants us to live, and (2) doing our best to become more like him.

Today’s verse tells us that the fear of the LORD is the first step in our quest for wisdom. This starting point is so essential to gaining wisdom that Solomon emphasizes it again later: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). But what is the fear of the LORD? Does it mean we should be afraid of God? No.

In the Bible fear of the LORD means a proper respect for who God is and who we are in relation to him. It means understanding that God is the all-powerful, righteous Creator of the universe and that we are sinners who are not even worthy to stand in his presence. And yet God loved us so much that he sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16).

If we admit to God that we’re sinners—that we’ve fallen short of his standard of perfection—and accept the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross, he will actually come into our hearts and live inside us. We will be new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17), righteous in God’s sight and bound for eternal life in heaven. Salvation is a free gift from God that we can’t earn by doing good things or by being good. We must simply acknowledge that we are sinners unworthy to enter heaven, and we must accept the free gift of salvation that God offers us through Christ.

When we understand how lost we were before God saved us—when we truly understand the eternal death from which God saved us and the eternal life for which he saved us—we’ll respond to him with awe, reverence, worship, and obedience. Then we’ll have the fear of the LORD and be ready to start out on our quest for wisdom.

discussion starters

1. Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior? If so, thank God for his awesome gift of salvation! How has this gift made a difference in your life?

2. If not, what questions or fears do you have that might keep you from accepting him? Why not pray and accept his free gift of salvation right now?

3. What does the fear of the Lord mean to you? How do you think being a Christian (accepting Jesus’ gift of salvation) helps you to fear the Lord?

Memorize John 3:16: God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. If you’ve already memorized this verse, why not share it with someone who needs to hear it this week?

3. bad company

My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them. If they say "Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for someone’s blood, let’s waylay some harmless soul; . . . my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into sin, they are swift to shed blood. . . . These men lie in wait for their own blood; they waylay only themselves! Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it.

—Proverbs 1:10–11, 15–16, 18–19

Sarah was new at school. Her family had just moved to the city where her dad had taken a new job. She had been popular at her old school, but she didn’t have any friends at this new one. Then one day a group of kids invited her to sit with them at lunch. She couldn’t believe they would pick her to hang out with. They were some of the most popular kids in the school! But these kids were different from her old friends. Her old friends had been Christians, and she always felt good about herself when she was with them. Sarah didn’t think her new friends were bad people, but they had reputations for throwing wild parties and getting into trouble.

Sarah wanted to do the right thing, but she also really wanted to be accepted at her new school. So she started hanging out with this new group of friends. She stayed on the fringes at first, just watching and not participating in things she knew were wrong. But as time passed, Sarah’s mind-set started to change. Maybe smoking pot just this once won’t hurt me, she thought. So she tried it. Next it was I really like Bobby. Maybe it wouldn’t be so wrong for me to sleep with him. After all, he says he loves me, and all the other girls are sleeping with their boyfriends. So she did. She felt terrible about herself, but her need to be accepted was strong.

A few months later, Sarah sat on her bed and wept. She looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize herself anymore. She didn’t remember where the line between right and wrong was or when she had crossed it, but she knew she had. She was amazed at how easy it had been to follow her new friends, inch by inch, into a lifestyle she knew was displeasing to God, her parents, and herself.

Do you want to be wise? The Bible says to hang out with wise friends. Foolish friends may promise to make you popular and happy, but they will bring you down in the end. Every time. Wise friends, on the other hand, will build you up and help you make good choices. They’ll support you against the pressure to do things you know are wrong, and they’ll help you feel truly good about who you are. Choosing wise friends is one of the wisest choices you can make.

discussion starters

1. Are your best friends wise or unwise people? Can you think of a wise person at your school whom you’d like to get to know better?

2. Think of a time when hanging around the wrong kind of friends got you into trouble. How can you avoid that happening again?

Ask God to bring wise friends into your life. Consider why you hang out with your current group. Are you trying to please others or please God?

4. street preacher

Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech.

—Proverbs 1:20–21

TURN . . . FROM . . . SIN! the street preacher booms in a voice you can hear blocks away. Then he does a little hip-hop, perfected over years of practice, and lands facing the other way. TURN . . . TO . . . GOD! he booms again, and then starts over.

TURN . . . FROM . . . SIN! (hop) TURN . . . TO . . . GOD! (hop)

TURN . . . FROM . . . SIN! (hop) TURN . . . TO . . . GOD! (hop)

Day after day, month after month, and year after year, the preacher stands on the same busy street corner in weather-beaten clothes with an even more weather-beaten Bible in his hands and cries out to the masses of people scurrying by: TURN FROM SIN! TURN TO GOD!

Most people pass by without listening to him. They think he’s crazy—a religious nut. Besides, they have more important things to do than listen to some guy yelling like a lunatic. But once in a while, once in a long while, somebody stops. And listens. And walks away changed. And that’s why the street preacher keeps coming back.

People search for wisdom everywhere: in distant caves and deserts; high in the Himalaya Mountains; or through drugs or magic crystals or, someday, by traveling through space to other worlds. But the Bible reveals an awesome and encouraging truth: Wisdom isn’t hiding. Wisdom is a street preacher, standing on every corner, crying out with a passion to help anyone who will listen.

"Well, I can’t hear wisdom, you might say. Wisdom isn’t really a street preacher standing on a corner. And you’re right. The picture of wisdom as a street preacher in Proverbs is a personification—it takes an abstract concept you can’t see or hear and presents it as if it were a person. So, how do you hear wisdom? The key is found in Proverbs 2:6: The LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding." Listening to wisdom is listening to God.

My dad always seemed to know what God wanted him to do. So one day I asked him, Does God talk to you?

Some people say God talks to them, he answered. Maybe he does, and maybe he doesn’t. I can just say he’s never talked to me in a voice I can hear. But God talks to me in other ways. I read my Bible and pray and confess my sins to him. Then I ask him to show me the right choices to make in life. If I’m willing to obey him and make those choices, he guides me by opening the doors for choices he wants me to make and closing the doors on others. That’s how God ‘talks’ to me.

My dad stopped and listened when the street preacher talked, and it made him the wisest person I’ve ever known. Most people won’t listen to wisdom. Will you?

discussion starters

1. How can you listen to what wisdom has to say? Are you willing to do that?

2. What are some reasons people don’t listen to wisdom? What are some of the dangers of ignoring wisdom’s advice?

Pray that God will help you listen to his wisdom and follow his wise advice.

5. all the world’s a stage

How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?

—Proverbs 1:22

Proverbs is like a play with three main characters that appear throughout the book: the Wise, the Fool, and the Simple. The Wise listens to God’s advice and follows it consistently throughout his life so he becomes more and more like Jesus. Sure he makes mistakes, but he’s quick to get back on track and move forward, doing what God wants him to do.

On the other end of the spectrum is the Fool (and his nasty cousin the Mocker). The Fool has heard what God has to say but has rejected it.