A Common Relationship

Originally posted Wednesday September 8, 2004

“It seems that the emphasis of the word ‘church’ in its Christian context is upon the relationship of people to each other, due to their common relationship to God through Christ.” ~ Arthur Harrington, What The Bible Says About Leadership

We often hear, "Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship." This, for the most part, is a true statement. What Jesus offers to us is not a set of rules and regulations which will bring us to God, but rather He offers Himself. It is through a relationship (loving Him, trusting Him, obeying Him, loving people) with Jesus that we are able to be brought near to God.

While we are able to see the truth of this cliché we have a hard time living it out. Rather we make Christianity a religion about doctrine and tradition. Don't get me wrong, correct doctrine is necessary and some traditions are very important, but we can allow these things to overshadow what is most important. The most important things in Christianity are relationships. It begins with our relationship with God, it continues with our relationships with other Christians, which then spills into the world.

The most important part of ministry is our relationship with God. Henry Blackaby in Experiencing God wrote; "The constant presence of God is the most practical part of your life and ministry" (pg. 55). So how do we have the presence of God in our lives? I think it comes down to inviting God be part of our lives every day, seeking His guidance through pray and Bible Study, and to obey God’s will. We will only do that if having a relationship with God is the most important part of our lives.

This is what the apostle John wrote:

This is the message he has given us to announce to you: God is light and there is darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not living in the truth. But if we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin. (1 John 1:5-7; NLT)

John reminds us that the reason we can have fellowship, the reason for unity in the Body of Christ, is because of our relationship to Jesus. When a relationship with Jesus is the most important aspect of our lives we are able to focus on what we have in common and overcome the differences that come along the way.

Christians are not united by believing we all believe exactly the same thing; we are united because of Jesus. We need make our relationship with Jesus the most important aspect in our lives. I think we also need to pray the prayer for unity, like the one Jesus prayed the night He was betrayed (John 17:11). Remember our source of unity is found in our common relationship to Christ Jesus. We may disagree about some doctrinal issues, but if we share a common commitment to Jesus then we are family.

Becoming Better Stewards

I am going to make a little confession today. It will shock a few of you, as least it will shock my parents. One of the things that planned to do on my camping trip to Colorado was to sit around the campfire and smoke a cigar. For whatever reason cigar smoking has intrigued me for the past several years, and then this summer I had a friend give me two cigars. I smoked those and decided that it would be cool to be able to do that around the campfire, and so I ordered several cigars online.

Like many new activities I was excited when the cigars came, and I smoked a few before I left on my trip (this has taken place over several weeks, so it wasn’t like I was lighting up on a daily basis). The funny thing is that by the time I actually got out to Colorado, the newness of cigar smoking had worn off, and I wasn’t all that excited about smoking anymore. In fact the last cigar I smoked I didn’t even finish, I just throw it into the campfire.

This got me thinking about how I spend money. This was a classic example of using the money God has blessed me with on me. Way too often I look at the money I have in my bank account and think about what I can get for myself. Rather than looking for ways to give generously I look for ways to satisfy my desires. What ways am I missing out on being a blessing because I am only looking to bless myself?

James wrote:

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:14-15; ESV).

When we have the means to help, especially when we have the financial means, then it is our responsibility to help those in need. Prayer is important, but it is also an act of faith to give, and so we should commit to doing both.

Here is where the rubber meets the road for me: after tithing and providing for my needs my next obligation is to give to people in need. I need to be more intentional about helping people in need. After all, God has blessed me so that I can become a blessing to others.

I am not saying that we have to give up our hobbies and the little pleasures we have in life, rather I want us to consider if they are justified when there are people who are in desperate need. After all, I think all of us can identify areas in our lives where are money, sometimes quite literally, goes up in smoke. Perhaps it is time we intentionally become better stewards of the gifts God has given to us.

Sunday Quote: The Reason for Revival

“The salvation of the nation has little to do with Washington or Hollywood—it has to do with the people of God! If God’s people do not sense that the problem is with them, then America does not stand a chance of revival or survival.” ~ Henry Blackaby, Holiness, p. 21

Gone Camping...

My dog and I are heading to Colorado today to do a little camping and hiking. I will be gone all week, so I give you permission to take the week off.

Maintain Unity

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, He ascended, what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) ~ Ephesians 4:1-10; ESV

Unity is an important part of God’s family. Since it is so important we can expect that it won’t come easy. Satan will do all that he can to bring division into the family of God. What Paul wants us to understand here is that we can either join God and work to maintain unity in the family, or we can join Satan and work with Him to bring disunity to the family.

Consider what New Testament scholar N. T. Wright says about this passage:

“But whatever position we take today, the one thing we can’t do is to pretend that this isn’t a central and vital issue. Unless we are working to maintain, defend and develop the unity we already enjoy, and to overcome, demolish and put behind us the disunity we still find ourselves in, we can scarcely claim to be following Paul’s teachings” (Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters; p. 44).

How is it possible to work to maintain unity in world that constantly wants to divide us? It begins with our attitudes. Paul tells us that we are to live with humility, gentleness, patience, and with love if we are going to maintain unity. In other words we have to remember that this isn’t about our feelings or our agendas, but it is about God’s Kingdom and His will. We have to be humble enough to lay aside anything that threatens to divide God’s family, whether that deals with the color of carpet in the church building or some political agenda that you hold dear.

Maintaining unity also requires that we remember what we share. Paul tells us that there is only one body of Christ, there is only one Spirit, there is only one hope, only one Lord, only one faith, only one baptism, only one God. Yes, living with other people is difficult. We will not always agree with what they have to say or the things that they do, but we have to remember there is only one body Christ, so we have to do our part to keep it one. That might mean calling someone out because they are being divisive, and their behavior needs to be challenged. At other times it might mean that we have to get off our high horse and let other people have a say, or at least give them a fair hearing.

The reason I bring this up is because I am beginning to see a wall being raised in the church. This wall is called politics and it is dividing liberals and conservatives, and the result is that God’s name is being dishonored as His children bicker among themselves. I have strong political beliefs, but I am not willing to divide Christ’s body over what I believe politically because politics doesn’t further the cause of the Kingdom one single bit. If we care more about what happens in this country than what happens in the Kingdom of God then we will allow politics to divide the Church, but if we care more about God’s Kingdom then we will be able to put aside our political agenda’s and look for ways we can work together to make this world a better place.

Followers of Christ work to maintain unity in the Body of Christ. The question I want you to think about is: Am I unifying or dividing the body of Christ?

Weight Loss

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God's throne in heaven. Think about all he endured when sinful people did such terrible things to him, so that you don't become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. ~ Hebrews 12:1-4; NLT

Take a moment and meditate on this passage. Think about what God is asking you to do. Think about what Jesus went through so you could have new life. Think about the weights that have you weighed down. There is a lot to ponder so take your time.

There are several different ways I could direct your thoughts today, but the direction I want to take you in is to consider the things that are slowing you down.

First, think about what the inspired author meant when he wrote; let us strip of every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. Remember, it is not just sin that keeps us from enjoying the full life God has prepared for us. There are other weights we are hanging on to, besides sin, that are slowing us down.

What are these other weights? I believe a big one is the weight of consumerism. We are never satisfied with what we have, we allows want more and more. Much of the money we make over the course of our lives go towards things we want. We have the money to take care of our needs, and so from our abundance we buy what we want. Possessions aren't necessarily bad, until they get in the way of us following Jesus.

I think another weight is that of entertainment. We are an entertained people. Movies, music, books, and television are all evidence that we like to be distracted from the realities of our lives. This is not bad. There are times when we need forget about all that is happening around us and simply enjoy ourselves. Entertainment is not wrong until it keeps us for looking toward Jesus.

Perhaps you can think of other "weights" that are weighing you down. I am sure there are more than just the two I mentioned. Whatever is holding us back, whether it is sin or another type of weight, we need confess to God our weakness and/or sin, and then work to change our lives. Please keep in mind that it doesn’t matter how “good” something appears to be, if it keeps us from following Jesus then it has no place in our lives. If we are unwilling to let go of those things which slow us down then we will never be satisfied with our relationship with God. It will always seem empty, to be more of a religion than a relationship. The relationship can only happen when we get rid of what is holding us back, and follow after Jesus as fast as we can.

1. How would you characterize your relationship with God?

2. What are some of the things that are holding you back as you follow Jesus?

3. How can you begin to remove these "weights" from your life?

The Me Centered Life

“In the midst of our growing fragmentation, we have never been more focused on the individual than we are today. This focus plays itself out in unbridled consumerism. While materialism is certainly an outgrowth of consumerism, it isn’t its primary focus. Consumerism’s primary product in our culture is narcissism. Remember, narcissism is a life in which everything is about us.” ~ Erwin McManus; Uprising

We are a funny society. We get all worked up over gas prices and then drive the most gas consuming vehicles we can find. We complain about the environment but we are willing to buy anything that is disposable and are quick to throw out last year’s model for the small improvements found on this year’s model. What this shows is that above all else “me” comes first in our society.

From a cheating spouse to the teenager looking to get high what we are ultimately after is what will make us feel good and will bring us a few moments of pleasure. The consequences of our actions are not considered because they are not part of the moment. As long as we can get what we want then ultimately that is all that matters. After all isn’t the good life found in making ourselves happy?

Here is the problem as I see it: We might find pleasure for the short term in pursuing a life that is all about ourselves; sooner or later the consequences of that type of life will sooner or later catch up to us. The pain and misery of these consequences usually outweigh any of the pleasure we sought as we tried to make a life that was focused on our desires.

The solution the world offers us to avoid the consequences of a self-centered life is to pursue a life that is even more about “me.” A person who has destroyed their life with sexual promiscuity will become even more promiscuous. The person who has shipwrecked their lives will turn to harder or different drugs to take away the pain. A life lived for “me” will always be trapped in this cycle of pleasure and consequences. Sadly, the consequences will never be connected to their pleasure seeking ways, and they will end up blaming people or circumstances for their situation.

One of the most common phrases in the New Testament is the phrase one another. We are called to love, serve, forgive, encourage, and help one another. Understanding this concept will help us to discover the full life Jesus promised us.

When we reflect on our lives we all realize that the best times in our lives have not happened while we were pursuing a life that was about us, but they happened when we invested time and love in other people. Relationships are where we experience the best life. If relationships are the most important things to us then our effort will be in loving others instead trying to gratifying our desires.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 2:3-4; Don’t be selfish, don’t live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself. Don’t think only about your own affairs, but be interest in others, too, and what they are doing (NLT). The life of a Christian is one where the focus is removed from “me” and is put on God and others. We are not the most important thing in the universe. To live our lives as if we were will lead to experiencing a very dissatisfying life.

Where Are You? #3

Questions are a part of life. Many of us would like to ask God questions so we could make sense out of life, but not many of us stop to consider the questions God asks us. While we ask questions to gain information, I believe God asks questions to get us to think about life.

The first question God asks is to our first parents, Adam and Eve. They have sinned by eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and now they understand that they have done evil. Guilt and shame appear in their hearts for the very first time, and so they attempt to hide from God. They don’t want to face Him after they had knowingly sinned and broken their relationship with God.

God calls to them: Where are you? Remember, God knows what has happened and He knows where they are. There is no place they could run from God to get away from God’s presence. Yet God asks the question: Where are you? Why does God ask the question? I think God asks the question because He wants Adam and Eve to realize two important truths.

• First, their relationship will never be the same. The sin that Adam and Eve allowed into the world had corrupted God’s creation and the humanity. Being unholy Adam and Eve, or their descendants, wouldn’t be able to have an intimate relationship with God any longer. Things had become different. The evidence of this reality is seen in their desire to hide from God. Never before did they have such a desire.
• Second,God wanted them to know they were still loved. Sure they had chosen disobedience and to side with Satan, but God still loved them. In fact God pursued them. They hid and God came looking for them. Life was still worth living because God had not given up on them.

So how does this question apply to us today? Each one of us has sin in our lives. There is the habitual sin that we can’t seem to shake and there are the little sins that occur every once in a while, like when we are tired or grouchy. Temptation seizes us and for whatever reason we can’t say no. The result is that guilt invades our lives and we end up wanting nothing to do with God. We ignore Him and we hide. Since we don’t deal with our sin we are unable mature in faith like we should and God comes to us and asks: Where are you?

How do we hide? Some of us hide through religion. I remember reading once (I wish I could remember where or who wrote it) but the author recalls being on a plane and the man in the seat in front of him takes out a Playboy magazine from his brief case and looks at it. A short while later he puts the magazine back in his brief case and takes out his Bible and reads. I think this is an illustration of what many of us do to hide. We have our pet sins and then we go through the motions of religion, but never take the time to really connect with God through personal prayer, meditation, and worship. Religion is where we hide.

Other people hide in more sin. They try to numb their conscience with alcohol, drugs, casual sex, pornography, and other vile things. Not only do they get involved with these activities, but they also seek out the same type of people who are on the same pursuit of hiding from God. These people end up validate each other as they tell each other that what they are doing is okay. All the while they become more and more depraved. Sinful lifestyle becomes the fig leaf we try to hide behind.

Some people, particularly people who are atheists or who are without religion, throw themselves into charity. By helping other people they try to alleviate their consciences of the bad things that they have done. They will tell us that they are good people. Sure they have done some bad things, but who hasn’t, and at least they aren’t Hitler or Charles Manson. Good works are the bushes we duck behind.

Sometimes we will throw ourselves into our jobs. We have deadlines to meet and clients to help and promotions to pursue. Our time and energy are devoted to our jobs and we don’t allow ourselves the time to quietly reflect on our lives or what God wants for us. We ignore God as much as we can because we don’t want to face the reality of our lives. Jobs provide a hiding place for us so we don’t have to think about God.

Family and relationships are another hiding place for us. This one is so easy to fall into because it is the second part of the great commandment, loving people. We aren’t being bad people and we are being helpful to others, plus we take the time necessary to be part of the lives of other people. By giving our lives to others we miss out on giving them to the One who wants them most: God. Relationships provide us with cover to hide from God.

I believe, no matter where we try to hide, each of us is still haunted by the question: Where are you? It maybe worded differently, but the essence of the question is still the same. The question calls us to examine our lives in relationship to God. Perhaps your question sounds like: Isn’t there more to life? or Is there life after death? Whatever your question is the reality is that God is pursuing you through the great questions of life.

This is what I want you to remember this series of ponderings: God is pursuing us. The question Where are you? reminds us that God wants to be a part of our lives, even though we are doing our best to hide from Him.

When God comes seeking you He wants you to examine your life. Think about these questions: Why are you hiding? How are you hiding? Do you know God loves you? God came looking for Adam and Eve because He loved them and wanted them to be part of His family. God looks for us for the same reason. We don’t have to hide! God wants us to be part of His family!

Sunday Quote: Light-Bearers

"Those who have become light, having formerly been darkness, must behave as light-bearers in God's world. Once again this will mean learning to think straight. Don't go with the flow. Think out who God is; who you are; and learn to live in the light of God and his love." ~ N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters, p. 60

A Guide for the Journey

Becoming a man doesn't just happen. The world is full of boys trapped in the body of a man. They may look like men, but the way the approach life is very childish. That is why fathers are so vitally important in the life of boys. If we have any hope of becoming the men God created us to be then we need older men, particularly our fathers, to speak into our lives.

Whatever the details might be, when a man speaks of the greatest gift his father gave him—if his father gave him anything at all worth remembering—it is always the passing on of masculinity.

This is essential, for life will test you. Like a ship at sea, you will be tested, and the storms will reveal the weak places in you as a man. They already have. How else do you account for the anger you feel, the fear, the vulnerability to certain temptations? You know what I speak of. And so our basic approach to life comes down to this: we stay in what we can handle, and steer clear of everything else. We engage where we feel we can or we must—as at work—and we hold back where we feel sure to fail, as in the deep waters of relating to our wife or our children, and in our spirituality.

Masculine initiation is a journey, a process, a quest really, a story that unfolds over time. It can be a very beautiful and powerful event to experience a blessing or a ritual, to hear words spoken to us in a ceremony of some sort. Those moments can be turning points in our lives. But they are only moments, and moments, as you well know, pass quickly and are swallowed in the river of time. We need more than a moment, an event. We need a process, a journey, an epic story of many experiences woven together, building upon one another in a progression. We need initiation. And, we need a Guide. (John Eldredge, Fathered by God , 6-8 )

Even if our fathers did a wonderful job at guiding us through life and initiating us into manhood, we still need a guide if we are going to become God's men. That Guide comes is God. Through Jesus we are shown what it means to be a true man, through the Holy Spirit we are constantly guided into all truth as our hearts are constantly transformed, and through prayer we have constant access to our Heavenly Father as we try to navigate life.

We need to thank God for all the positive lessons our earthly fathers have taught us, and we need to continue to ask Him to guide us as we seek to become the men He wants us to be.

Where Are You? #2

Questions are a part of life. We ask questions in order to learn information, but God asks questions so we will take time to examine our lives. You don’t have to go very far into the Bible to find God asking a question. It is there in the third chapter of Genesis. Humanity has not been on the earth very long, but their actions require God to ask them a question so they will understand what has happened.

In Genesis chapter 3 we find Adam and Eve in the paradise that God created for them. God provided for everything they would need to have a good life, which even included purposeful work to provide mean to their lives. They had all the food they could want, companionship, and a beautiful home to live in. There was not one thing they needed.

Adam and Eve were at this time innocent. In other words they were personally unaware of the consequences of sin. God had told them what would happen if they disobeyed Him, but outside of this knowledge they had not experienced that consequence, which meant they enjoyed a very special relationship with God. God came and personally communed with them. Amazing!

Yet, in the midst of all of this perfection discontentment crept in. James wrote:

13 When someone is tempted, he should not say, “I am being tempted by God,” because God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. 14 Instead, each person is tempted by his own desire, being lured and trapped by it. 15 When that desire becomes pregnant, it gives birth to sin; when that sin grows up, it gives birth to death. (James 1:13-15; ISV)

Keep what James wrote in mind as you read through the account of the first sin.

1 Now the serpent was more shrewd than any of the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Is it really true that God said, 'You must not eat from any tree of the orchard'?" 2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; 3 but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, 'You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.'" 4 The serpent said to the woman, "Surely you will not die, 5 for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil."

6 When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the orchard. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:1-9; NET)


There is too much in this story for us to cover in this series of ponderings. The bottom-line that we need to remember is that both Eve and Adam knowingly sinned. Sure Satan played a part, but Eve and Adam gave into their desire. I would also point out that Eve sinned because she wanted to be like God, but Adam chose being separated from God over being separated from Eve. I wonder how many people miss out on God because they have chosen friends and family over God?

Adam and Eve sinned, the ate the forbidden fruit, and then came to realize that they were no long fit to be in each other’s presence, let alone in the presence of God. It was at this moment that reality sits in, because God comes to pay a visit to our first parents. Knowing that God was on His way the couple hid. They hid because they were naked and were ashamed of what they had become. They hid because they were guilty and couldn’t face the holy God after they had chosen to be unholy.

When we feel like hiding from God it means that there is something wrong in our relationship with Him. Have you ever felt like hiding from God?

The Lord Waits

Originally posted Tuesday, September 21, 2004

But the LORD still waits for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for him to help them. ~ Isaiah 30:18; NLT

I am full of talk. When I am feeling down it is easy for me to talk about waiting on the Lord and trusting the plans of God, but my actions tell a different story. Rather than going to God for comfort I seek other ways to distract myself from the circumstances that I find myself in, and then I wonder why nothing changes in my life.

In Isaiah God makes it clear that He wants to help us. His desire is to show us the love, the grace, and the forgiveness that we need to have in our lives. Though God's love is unconditional and is offered to everyone; we still must choose to go to God in order to receive it. We will not discover it while we are trying to find life on our own.

How do we receive the love and the life God has for us? King David in Psalm 51 gives us an insight on how we are to approach God:

You would not be pleased with sacrifices, or I would bring them. If I brought you a burnt offering, you would not accept it. The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise (vv. 16, 17; NLT).

We are not to approach God with a religious piety and tradition. Going through the motions of a religion does not move God's heart. What moves the heart of God is when we approach Him weak and broken; not because He enjoys to see our suffering, but because it is when we are broken that we are most apt to realize that our only hope is God. Until we approach the throne of God broken and repentant we will never realize the awesome love God has for us. Pride is the biggest obstacle we have in experiencing the love God has for us.

When we are prideful we look to change our circumstance on our own. We will pursue happiness the way we think is best. We may say all the right things and do all the right things, but pride will keep us from experiencing God's love.

I am so tired of mouthing the right things and ignoring God. My pride has kept me from admitting my weakness and my need for God's strength. My prayer is that I come before God broken and repentant, calling on Him for mercy and grace.

Where Are You? #1

Have you seen those Southwest Airline commercials with the theme “Wanna Get Away?” My favorite one has two friends in the one friends apartment. He is showing off his new flat screen TV and game system with wireless controllers. He tells his friend that with the controllers the game mimics their movements. They happen to be playing a baseball game and he tells his friend, “Pitch it to me just like you would outside.” So the friend winds up and throws the controller which hits the TV, cracks the screen, and then causes the TV to crash down on the game system. Then the announcer's voice says: “Wanna get away?”

When we do stupid or thoughtless things we tend to want to hide and avoid contact with other people, especially those we may have harmed or embarrassed. We do the same thing with God. When we sin we want to hide and avoid contact with God. So here is the question I have for you this morning: How do you avoid God?

Questions are a part of life. We use questions everyday and they play a big part in our interactions with each other. Here are a few ways we uses questions.

1. To discover information. We ask questions because we are curious about a topic. We might ask: “Why is the sky blue?” or “How does a plane fly?” for the purpose of learning.
2. To strike up a conversation. We ask questions so we can have something to talk about and in the process learn information about the other person. We might ask a new acquaintance: “How long have you lived here?” or “Do you have a family?” We are killing two birds with one stone because we are learning about them while having a conversation with them.
3. To asses whether or not the students have learned. Teachers and parents ask these questions so they can determine what their students or children have learned. A history teacher may ask: “who was the first president of the United States?” to determine if the students grasped the lesson. A parent might ask: “How many snacks can you have when you get home from school?” to determine if the children understood the rule.
4. To have a person reflect on what is being said. Sometimes we will ask a question, not for our benefit, but to get the other person to reflect upon their situation. A counselor might ask a client: “How did that make you feel?” or a parent might ask their child “What lesson did you learn from this?”

What we see in all four types of questions is the ability of learning information. Even with the fourth type of question we are able to gain insight into the person’s feelings or the lesson they believed they have learned. We will always gain information when we ask questions.

Perhaps that is why it seems odd to think that God would ask questions. What does God have to learn? If God is truly omniscient, knowing everything, then there is no need for Him to ask a question. Yet we discover on the pages of Scripture that God indeed asks questions. So we are forced to ask a question of our own: Why does God ask questions?

God asks questions for our benefit. I think He primarily asks the fourth type of question; questions that are designed to get us to think about our lives and situations. God wants us to take the time to reflect about our lives. Too often we go about our days and we never take the time to think about our lives or our commitment to God. We need to ask questions such as: Are we truly following Jesus or are we just going through the motions? If God loves me why is my life such a mess? How can I trust God better this week? Do people see Jesus in my life? If we are not going ask the questions then God will.

“Sure,” you may say, “God uses questions in the Bible, but does He still use questions today?” I think He does. Henry Blackaby wrote about in his excellent study Experiencing God:

“God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways” (back cover of workbook).

God will ask us questions through the Bible. I think the questions God asks in the Bible still apply to our lives today. Other times God might plant a question in our minds and hearts for us to consider as we pray. God might also use a circumstance to prompt a question for us to think about. At other times the question will come from a fellow Christian and God will use that question for His purposes. God asks questions and when He does it is important for us to take time and think about them, because He isn’t looking for an answer, He wants us to discover a truth about our lives.