When King David died, his son Solomon became king, and he prayed to the Lord for wisdom and understanding of the people he was to reign over.  Wisdom is when a person knows how to do and say good things.

God was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom rather than riches.  God then told him that He would give him a wise mind as well as riches and honour, so that no other king would ever compare with Solomon.  God did this and King Solomon became famous for his wisdom.

One day two women appeared before King Solomon and brought a case for him to decide.  The first woman said, "We live in the same house and both of us gave birth to a child.  However, this other woman's child died and during the night she took her dead child and swopped it for my living child.  And now she is claiming my child as her own!"

The second woman denied this saying, "No, the living child is mine!"  It was hard to see how this could be settled, as there was no one who could tell the truth of the situation.

King Solomon thought for a while and finally said, "Bring me a sword."  So a sword was brought to the king and he said, "Now, cut the the living child in two and give half to each woman!"

The first woman was horrified and cried out to the king, "Oh, my lord, give her the living child and don't kill it."  But, the other woman said, "Then it won't be either yours nor mine.  So go ahead and divide it!"

Wise King Solomon then spoke again, "Give the living child to the first woman and don't kill it, for she is its mother!"  All Israel heard of this judgment and knew that the wisdom of God was in their king, and that he had given a wise decision.  For what true mother would want her own child to die rather than to live?

If we let God teach us, we too can grow up to be wise people.  Wise people do good things and avoid doing wrong things.  Even young children can know the difference between good and wrong things.

What wrong things do you do, and what are some good things that you should do? (Let the children respond).  Should we always choose to do right or wrong things? (Let the children respond).  Then how can we choose to do good things? (Let the children respond).

Yes, you can ask God to help you to choose to do good things, and to say "No" to doing wrong things.  If you keep on doing this as you grow up, then you will become a wise person!

God bless.