Every year as teachers prepare for the upcoming school year a big portion of their time is spent making lesson plans. This creates direction for the classroom.
Lesson plans include directions for each day, each week, each month, and each quarter. Every day has a goal that fits into the big picture for a positive outcome.
Lesson plans include textbook learning and other unexpected or think-outside-the-box applications of what students read, practice, and memorize.
You might be surprised to know that these methods are not new. God was using them long before modern classrooms were a thing.
God is the ultimate teacher of the year, century, millennium, and for all time!
God’s lesson plans for His textbook
Just as children must attend school almost daily, so we must attend God’s classroom each day if we want to have a successful life. Skipping school leads to failure.
A large portion of our learning comes from God’s textbook, the Bible. In ancient times it was called the “law”. Here are His lesson plans.
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Joshua 1:8 ESV
We need daily Bible reading, study, meditation, and/or memorization. We also need to talk about it. Verbalization helps us retain it easier.
God’s lesson plans for hands-on practice
Once we have studied our textbook it is then time to put it into practice. God has a lesson plan for this too.
“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Deuteronomy 6:7 ESV
Notice that there is a dialogue between the teacher and the child. They are now talking about what they already read and maybe memorized from the textbook.
In all of our daily activities, we should be thinking about how to apply our book learning. The apostle Paul reiterated this concept in several New Testament Scriptures.
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.” James 1:22-24 ESV
A mirror shows us what we need to change.
When we wake up in the morning, we look in the mirror and see that our hair is messy and needs to be combed. Or if we have been working out in the garden we might see dirt on our face and it needs to be washed.
Likewise, God’s word shows us where we need to make changes.
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
God’s lesson plans for crafts and field trips
Creating and decorating are sometimes part of lesson plans.
“You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:8-9 ESV
God knew that how we dress and our home decor would influence how we think and act.
The people in these Scriptures wore jewelry to remind them of God’s words. They also went outside and decorated their doors and even their gates with Scripture.
What does your home look like? Does it reflect that you have been in God’s classroom?
Do you have Bible verses or inspirational quotes in prominent places to remind you of the importance of living for Jesus?
Here are some home decor examples or they can be as simple as sticky notes on your bathroom mirror.
Additionally, God teaches us in unexpected ways. These might be compared to a class field trip. When we go out in nature, He often brings to our minds Scriptures that we have previously studied.
You will find examples of this in the following devotionals:
God’s lesson plans for a successful life
There are no shortcuts to learning what God wants us to know. The good thing is that He does not leave it up to us to figure out what to learn.
“Study to show thyself approved unto God …” 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man (or woman) of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV (explanation added)
God’s lesson plans give us the direction we need to live a successful life.
You might also like to read:
References:
- “Christ is the head of this home”
- “Rock-a-bye-baby – Jesus loves you”
- “Hope Bible Verses“
- “Then sings my soul – Great are you Lord“
- Many thanks to Bible Gateway for making easy navigation of the Scriptures