Last Lessons #59 – QUESTIONS

As I age, I think about the most important questions that have confronted me as a human being made in God’s image.  I believe these are the questions that every person, especially a Christian, should consider throughout life.

“Did God actually say?”  Genesis 3:1

In other words, where do I find truth?

“What is this that you have done?”  Genesis 3:13

In other words, do I recognize my sin?

“Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?”  Genesis 4:6

In other words, why do I get angry and become depressed?

“Am I my brother’s keeper?”  Genesis 4:9

In other words, what is my responsibility toward others?

“O Lord God, what will you give me…?”  Genesis 15:2

In other words, what am I asking God for in this life?

“How am I to know that I possess it?”  Genesis 15:8

In other words, do I believe that God answers prayer?

“Where have you come from and where are you going?”  Genesis 16:8

In other words, what are my gifts and what are my goals in using them?

“Is anything too hard for the Lord?”  Genesis 18:14

In other words, do I trust God for big things if they are in his will?

“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”  Genesis 18:25

In other words, do I become too worried over current events in the world? 

“Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved?” Genesis 19:26

In other words, can’t I make some things a little easier by partial obedience to what God tells me to do?

You might see that all the questions I have mentioned are taken from the Book of Genesis.  That is because as I read the Bible, these are some of the first life questions presented to me.  The Bible is full of questions.  I believe that is because God wants me to think deeply about life.  He doesn’t want me to just skim through life.  He doesn’t want me to only see, hear, experience, or feel things.  He wants me to think about them. 

This present generation is too busy to think.  Most people watch TV, text each other, play games, participate in sports, party, go out to eat, exercise, or a hundred other things that keep them from thinking.  When was the last time you took time to do nothing but think?  One time in Africa I visited a primary school and observed a group of children quietly sitting on a blanket outside.  I asked the teacher what they were doing, and she said, “Nothing.”  She said that she worked one hour each day into the schedule where the children are quiet and do nothing so that they can learn to think. I said WOW!

I have learned that the best way for me to think about the important questions of life is to read through the Bible and stop when a question arises in the text and meditate on that question.  What more should I learn about it?  How does it affect me?  What should I do about it?  And mostly, why is this an important question for my life?

I realize that now as I live alone and do not go out much, I have more time to think than most of you reading this blog.  Still, I pray that you will take the time to be with God to think through the important questions in your life.

The most important being, “Am I ready to go home to be with Jesus and to see him face to face?”