Friday night I answered the phone and my 7 year old niece was on the other end of the line. She then began to ask me a theological question that I had never been asked in my 40+ years of ministry. A theological question from a seven year old? Now that was something I was never expecting. In fact it's a question I'd never asked myself and have never been asked by an adult, mostly because to an adult the answer is obvious, but it was a very logical question for a seven year old to ask.
"Uncle Danny," she asked, "If the Bible says that brothers and sisters are not suppose to get married how can brothers and sisters at church get married?" You must admit that for a seven year old to come up with such a question it had to have her mind clicking on things she had heard at church and at home. However, no one knew how she came up with this particular question.
As adults many of us don't think that deep when it comes to Bible study. We rush quickly through our reading hardly pausing to take in what God's word is trying to tell us, much less asking ourselves questions about what we read. I don't know if it's an "I don't care" or just a "I never thought of that" attitude. However, most of the time the question goes unasked and often we go through life never knowing the answer.
As we study and start asking ourselves questions we'll get much more value from our time in the Word. What it does is cause us to research and seek out answers. This in turn deepens our faith. The "whys" and "how comes" are what can spark us on to delving deeper in the Words of God.
By asking questions I found out that Noah was still alive for the first 50 years of Abraham's life. Wow, just think to be able to sit at the feet of the man whose story you had heard over and over. By asking questions we learn that when we talk about Jesus bearing the cross, it's not the physical wooden cross, but the burden of sin that he truly carried for man. We learn by asking questions in our study.
A small child will ask you a thousand "whys" trying to quench his or her thirst to know. In the words of Jesus "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given unto you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened to you." If you never ask the question, you'll never know the lesson.
So I received a theological question from a seven year old. How do you explain it so they'll understand the answer. The simple answer is that brothers and sisters with the same grand-parents cannot marry other than it's okay. This doesn't completely answer her question, but maybe it will suffice until she turns eight.
"Uncle Danny," she asked, "If the Bible says that brothers and sisters are not suppose to get married how can brothers and sisters at church get married?" You must admit that for a seven year old to come up with such a question it had to have her mind clicking on things she had heard at church and at home. However, no one knew how she came up with this particular question.
As adults many of us don't think that deep when it comes to Bible study. We rush quickly through our reading hardly pausing to take in what God's word is trying to tell us, much less asking ourselves questions about what we read. I don't know if it's an "I don't care" or just a "I never thought of that" attitude. However, most of the time the question goes unasked and often we go through life never knowing the answer.
As we study and start asking ourselves questions we'll get much more value from our time in the Word. What it does is cause us to research and seek out answers. This in turn deepens our faith. The "whys" and "how comes" are what can spark us on to delving deeper in the Words of God.
By asking questions I found out that Noah was still alive for the first 50 years of Abraham's life. Wow, just think to be able to sit at the feet of the man whose story you had heard over and over. By asking questions we learn that when we talk about Jesus bearing the cross, it's not the physical wooden cross, but the burden of sin that he truly carried for man. We learn by asking questions in our study.
A small child will ask you a thousand "whys" trying to quench his or her thirst to know. In the words of Jesus "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given unto you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened to you." If you never ask the question, you'll never know the lesson.
So I received a theological question from a seven year old. How do you explain it so they'll understand the answer. The simple answer is that brothers and sisters with the same grand-parents cannot marry other than it's okay. This doesn't completely answer her question, but maybe it will suffice until she turns eight.
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