The Power of "Cheshchuns"

Our 2-year-old Dan holding a baby bunny
1987

"Jesus...asked His disciples, 'Who do people say that I am?'" (Mark 8:27)

As a preschooler, a recurrent phrase out of our Dan's mouth was: "Me dot a cheshchun" (I've got a question). As a kindergartener, on  a mini-van vacation out west and back, over and over and over again Dan asked questions such as, "Daddy, daddy, if a lion and a buffalo got in a fight, who would win?" Just this week, I got a call from my almost 30-year-old. "Mama, I have a question."

Across His ministry, Jesus used questions as powerful truth teaching tools. To the adulterous woman caught in the very act, He asked, "Woman, where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?" "No, Lord," she answered. And Jesus said, "Neither do I. Go and sin no more."

This fall, I'm adding home school co-ops to my book reading tour and believe God has said to include the four-question gospel in story time.

Statements can make people defensive, but questions can open doors of opportunity. So, beloved, how can you use questions for the good of others?

Review of four question gospel for kids:

What is sin? Sin is breaking God's law by doing something He says not to do like lying or not doing something He says to do like obeying your parents. "Everyone who sins is breaking God's law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God." (1 John 3:4)

What happens when you sin? Your sin separates you from God. "It's your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, He has turned away and will not listen anymore." (Isa. 59:2)

Who has sinned? Everyone has sinned. "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard." (Romans 3:23)

Who can get you back to God? Only God's Son, Jesus, can get you back to God. "For this is how God loved the world; He gave His one and only Son [Jesus], so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) "Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one can come to the Father except through Me.'" (John 14:6)