Wonder I: Education is not a filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. ~ William Butler Yeats

Do you like to unlock achievements when you play games?

Like getting a very hard or extreme achievement in Brawl Stars?

Or having a shelf full of medals and trophies you’ve won at school competitions?

But life isn’t all about always winning.

Nor is it about getting all the achievements and awards there are out there.

Nor is it about acquiring as much or more knowledge than ChatGPT.

Gaining knowledge with a sense of wonder is good.

But more importantly, having guidance while gaining that knowledge brings understanding and makes one wise.

Proverbs 1:5–6 says:

“Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.”

And so our big idea is Add to Learning and Accept Guidance.

It’s been said that,

“Education is not a filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

That means when I am learning, it’s not just about the teachers downloading information into our brains.

We have SLS and HBL for that.

But it’s about the lighting of a fire.

A fire of curiosity, of wonder.

That the more I learn about this world, the more I find out that there are still so many things I still don’t understand.

Because without godly and wise guidance,

I will not be able to use that knowledge in the best way that God intended it to be.

For example, knowledge is learning how to start a fire.

Wisdom is about using it to cook food and not burn down your house in the process.

Knowledge is about learning many interesting things from the Internet.

Wisdom is about using the knowledge to help and bless others,

rather than get people to like me because I know about Soda Pop and all that rizz in Gen-Alpha talk.

God desires to guide you by His Holy Spirit.

When you read His words from the Bible and think about them day and night.

When you listen to the daily morning devotions.

When Christian teachers and friends share their experiences and godly counsel with you.

Will you allow the Holy Spirit and the godly people around you to guide you while gaining knowledge?

Will you accept the guidance that is needed so that you are able to tell right from wrong?

Will you be humble enough to say that although I know a lot, yet there are still more I can learn?

And ask God to help you not just to learn for the sake of filling a pail,

But to have that sense of wonder and be constantly awed and inspired by his creative and wonderful world?

And to accept His guidance in living and enjoying the wonderful lives that He has planned for you?