“Why???” If you have been around children a lot you have probably heard some variation of this question coming from a child’s mouth. Depending on the tone in which it was given and the situation that you were dealing with you might not have been very happy hearing this question being asked. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t an important question.
By nature, children are very inquisitive. Being the father of three children I get asked a lot of questions every day. “Daddy, do we have to go to bed?” “May we have some ice cream?” “Is it hard to get marker out of the carpet?” “Are we there yet?” Anybody that has ever had small children in the house has heard several of these same questions and probably a whole lot more. Children have a lot of questions about everything. They want to know how things work and why things are the way they are. Many of their questions are serious. They are still young, and they are just trying to learn. Now we need to be aware that some of their questions are meant as a test. They want to know what their limits are and just how far they can push things. Often times when they do not get the answer they were looking for, they will repeat that famous question in the whiniest voice they can manage, “Why?”
No matter the reason that a child asks why, we should be ready and willing to supply an answer. Granted that answer might come along with some discipline, but all the same an answer must be given.
Many people young and old struggle to understand why things are the way that they are. This is especially true concerning God’s Word and the Church. Many people really want truth, but they are not going to believe it just because somebody says it is fact. They want proof. They want evidence.
Thankfully the Word of God supplies absolute truth and gives us the evidence that’s needed. As we all continue to grow in God and in the knowledge of His Word let us consider passages such as 2 Timothy 3:16-17, where we see “all scripture” is inspired by God and that it is profitable to make mankind complete. We can also see in 2 Peter 1:3 that God has supplied us with “all things that pertain to life and godliness”. All of God’s Word is profitable and as Christian’s we are to handle the Word of God “rightly”. (2 Timothy 2:15) Looking into the Word and hearing the Word begins our faithful journey. (Romans 10:17) Faith is so important if we want to be pleasing to God. (Hebrews 11:6) To help us better understand faith we have to know what faith is and what it supplies. Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
If somebody asks you why things are the way they are concerning God, His Word, and His Church we need to be ready, willing, and able to take this wonderful opportunity to share with them the Word of God. It is truth and it is so very important.
Derek Broome