The Wise Man and the Foolish Man
The children already know this song really well, so I plan on having the children sing it through once the regular way using the actions and then I’ll explain what it means.
I’m using the colored illustrations of the July 1999 Friend pictures from the blog “In the Leafy Tree Tops” to help explain what the song means. I am also using word strip labels. The blog “In the Leafy Tree Tops” is also where I got the alternate song arrangement idea I am using. A big thank you to the writer of this blog!
When Jesus was on the earth he taught many things using parables. The wise man and the foolish man is one of the parables he taught. A parable is a short story designed to help teach a gospel principle using everyday objects in life that people can relate to, such as the storm, the house, the rock, and the sand in the song.
(Put the objects on the board one at a time. Explain what each represents after asking the question about it. Put the word strip label under the object after explaining what it represents.)
- What does the house represent? Our life
- What does building our life on the rock represent? Building our life on the solid foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which means doing the things the gospel teaches us to do.
- What does building our life on the sand represent? Building our life on the things the world values.
- What kinds of things does the world value? (Write these on the board.) Wealth, entertainment, physical beauty, sports activities, popularity and fame, etc. Explain that sometimes people make these things their main focus in life and they don’t give time to the things of the gospel such as scripture study, prayer, church attendance, etc.
- What happens when the storms of life hit someone who has made worldly values their priority in life? (Answer this question by asking the following questions.) What do the storms of life represent? (The difficulties, trials, and temptations of life) What happens to sand when wind or water hits it? (It moves and shifts.) What happens if someone has not taken the time to build a strong testimony and temptations coming pouring down upon them? (They might move and shift toward the temptation.) What happens when the difficulties of life come pouring down upon someone who has not taken the time to turn to the wisdom of the Lord to help guide their life? (Things fall apart.) If we haven’t built our life on gospel teachings, the storms of life could sweep us away to destruction.
Alternate Song Arrangement
After I explain what the song means, I plan on having the children try to sing the song using the alternate song arrangement. I will have the pianist play just the children’s part until they have it down. The chorus accompaniment is a little difficult. I am planning on having a musical instrument play the children’s part during the chorus to help them hear and sing their part.
P.S. I changed the wording on one of the word strips (it is different than the picture). The grammar is still not correct, but it might work better.