Innocent Questions Lead to a Deeper Knowledge

I believe that the seemingly innocent questions of a child can be the best teacher anyone has ever had.

I worked at summer camp in Alaska last year. There were three camps that we were stationed at but it was the third camp that really got me to thinking.

The campers began arriving on Sunday. I found myself the counselor to ten girls between the ages of eight and ten and all them were very energetic. I began to think of ways to have a meaningful cabin worship each evening and finally decided that I would ask each of them to tell me what their favorite Bible stories were and then, together, we would pick one for each evening for the week.

Friday evening we had decided to read the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and then finishing with His resurrection Saturday evening. I had no idea that the story would generate the number of complex questions that came up.

“Why did Jesus rise on Sunday instead of the Sabbath?”

“Why do you worship on Saturday while other people worship on Sunday?”

I was at a loss for words with these. After saying a quick prayer for guidance, I went back to Genesis and pointed out that during the first week, the week of Creation, God rested on the seventh day of the week and made it holy. Since I did not have a calendar on hand, I asked the girls to think fothe calendars they had at home. What day was the seventh day of the week? Each thought for a while but all came up with the same answer, Saturday. Next, we went to Exodus and read the fourth cammandment, the one that says, “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days shall you labor but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:8-10, paraphrased).

All the girls seemed to understand that and we discussed it for a while longer. I don’t know if they went home the next day and told their parents about the talk we had but I don’t doubt that they each thought about it, wondering what was right or wrong. I wholeheartedly believe that a child’s questions can teach the person who is answering just as much as it will teach the child. The innocence of the child when they ask their querstions can really get an older person to think about even th most menial things from a child’s perspective.