Tough Questions

There is a special joy that comes from knowing you have helped someone learn something. Teaching has always been one of my delights in life. Over the years I have had many opportunities to teach a variety of people a variety of things. From coaxing a baby to drink out of a bottle for the first time to teaching an adult how to use their computer, it all has an appeal to me.

Last night when I picked-up my young friend from school she was very excited. She had a surprise test in class and had to compute both the surface area and the volume of a cube. She was confident, based on our lesson the night before, that she had gotten the correct answers.

It seems to me that part of the reason why so many kids don't like school, and don't do well in school, is because they don't understand what they are being taught. It is hard for a teacher with 20-30 children in her class to take the time to explain things to the ones who didn't pick it up when she explained it the first (or second or third) time. Or perhaps they just need to have it explained a different way to suit their learning style.

Along those lines, last night the topic of God and the Bible came up. My young friend had some very tough questions going around in her head. What would you say to a 13-year-old who wondered why God would kill almost everyone on the earth (the flood) or why God would punish everyone for the actions of one person (Eve in the garden)? How would you explain what sin was to someone whose list of sins was a grand total of one: murder? (We did come up with some more BTW.) And what does it mean when people say that Jesus died for our sins?

I am very glad she is thinking about these things and, with the Lord's help, I hope I can adequately answer them. These sorts of questions are the ones that we all need to be prepared to answer when we meet people on our walk though life.

Tough questions are good, because they indicate that a high level of thought and interest has gone into them. Tough questions are also wonderful opportunities to share the truths of God's Word with those around us. I hope you are prepared for that day when you are asked some tough questions. And some day we will all be asked the toughest question of all: "Why should I [God] let you into heaven?" The wrong answer will doom you to an eternity of suffering in hell.