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Wisdom for Back to School

By Pastor Kristen Buchs

 

          It’s that time of year again! The time when yellow buses appear weekday mornings and afternoons, 20 MPH school zone lights are flashing and crossing guards don their neon vests. When pencils, pens, binders and backpacks overflow their usual aisle and demand a section of their own at the store. When parking lots, vacant all summer, are packed with vehicles and empty playing fields are suddenly alive with people and activity. It is a time of new beginnings, new opportunities and new friendships. A time of anticipation, excitement and challenges. Yes, school is back in session for the 2026-2027 term!

          I was one of those kids who loved going back to school in the Fall!  I could spend hours shopping for school supplies – searching for the perfect lunchbox, color coordinating folders and notebooks for each class, finding the best pencil case and the pens, pencils and markers that would fill it. Then it was time to find the exactly right outfit for the first day of school… I am blessed with some of the most patient parents who ever lived!

          I don’t think we truly appreciate school until we leave it. What a gift to be able to spend so many hours each day focused on learning, on acquiring knowledge, wisdom and skills that will benefit us for the rest of our lives!  There is a difference between knowledge and wisdom - knowledge gives you information; wisdom tells you what to do with it.

          The Bible has much to say about the importance of education, knowledge and wisdom. Ecclesiastes 7:12 says, “For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of the one who has it.” Proverbs 19:20 tells us to “Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future,” and Proverbs 22:6 speaks to the importance of educating our children, “Train up a child in the way they should go; even when they are old they will not depart from it.”

God supports our search for knowledge and wisdom. He is the source of all the wisdom we need to live life abundantly. We just need to ask Him for it as James 1:5 reveals, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let them ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given them.”

This year, as we ask God for His wisdom, guidance and blessing for our lives, let’s remember to ask God’s wisdom, guidance and blessing on our children and their parents, our teachers, our administrators, our bus drivers and school staff as they begin their educational journey together!