My six year old loves Sunday school. Everytime we meet after his class, he always shows his "works" and the stars stamped on his wrist. He is enthusiastic about his Teacher "Tin" who he says, always calls him Ornic, but he doesn't mine having his name mispronounced. He brings home his activity sheets on various Biblical lessons spruced with different learning activities - coloring, puzzles, activity gaps, mosaic - which kids just enjoy doing for long stretches of time. What is more, I noticed how he has become more prayerful and spirit-filled these days as he takes the lead in praying over meals and before bedtime. Once we are seated for meals, he normally says, "Okay, let us pray first." And on he rattles with requests for blessing.
A day after his usual Sunday school stint, he prayed for something that totally floored me. We were again at the dinner table where he took the lead in saying grace.
"Thank you Lord for the food, for making us healthy and strong. And please, Lord, give me wisdom."
My heart leaped. Wisdom? My little man who only has two permanent teeth, praying that God grant him wisdom? I just learned the word when I got involved in the Campus Ministry in college. Not until I made myself available to the study of the Bible along "with those who called on the Lord out of a pure heart" did I really learn what wisdom meant. I only had a silly understanding of the word - that it is a descriptive word for one special tooth that magically springs when people reach a certain age, say, eighteen years old. Yup, wisdom tooth.
Out of curiosity, I "investigated." I had to know what was working in the mind of my son who, day in and day out, still acts as a young pup always crawling and egging me to scootch him up while he tenderly grunts and whimpers, sniffs me and hugs me with his "paws."
Me: (Lovingly, of course) Son, why did you pray for wisdom? Do you know what it
means?
OrvIK: Yes, Mom. I prayed for wisdom, so I can be wise.
Me: Wow, that's nice. What do you mean by being "wise?"
Orvik: Di ko nga alam eh. (I really don't know.) But I want to obey God, so I can
be wise!
That was it. For Orvik, wisdom is obedience to the great I AM.
That episode spurred me to delve deeper into what wisdom is and what God's Word says about it.
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