Jerry goes to a Christian school which perhaps gives about 20 minutes to tell bible stories each day. Periodically, he also brings home books with seriously abbreviated and animated bible stories. This week being the beginning of term, he brought back one of these books and asked to hear the stories. One of them was about the temptation of Jesus. (We all know the story, right?) When I told him the story, he merely asked where the devil was (it was not illustrated). When LH told the story later at night, he had deeper thoughts.
He told his dad that he was naughty sometimes because he heard the devil tempting him but he could not hear God. LH insisted that Jerry should resist being naughty and try to be good all the time. He also suggested that God would talk to Jerry as he slept, but Jerry insisted that he could not hear. LH then had to say that God talked to us (the parents) and taught us how to teach Jerry behaved. Obviously, Jerry had to follow up with a dozen more questions, including how and when God spoke to us, etc etc. This episode is ironic as LH is neither religious nor partial to Christianity. Perhaps, on a certain level, it is easier for LH to analyse God and his ways in this detached manner of a bystander (my analyses would only be from a viewpoint of a good reader of the bible rather than a Christian).
Hopefully, Jerry will not be always confused about the devil. This morning, he suggested that Aaron (and basically all children) listened to the devil; that is why children are usually naughty. This could be quite scary if placed in a movie.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
aww. jerry is just so precious and innocent. his questions are very inquisitive and i wish i were there to talk to him about them. keep trying gah jeh. i will be praying for ya'll! it's great! miss ya'll as always. and please remind mom and dad to give me a call. as they have neglected to remember that they have children in the states! grr
yes, that wd be nice. when will u come and answer his questions?
mom & dad r in China right now. will remind them of u when i see them. now, they only think of their grandsons...hahaha
I’m seriously impressed with Jerry’s thought provoking questions. Berto said that those are the same questions he had when he was 19 on a fact-finding mission about the Christian life. Yes, 19. Jerry’s 4.
So, how does God talk to us?
God talks to us through the Bible! Consider these verses to share with Jerry.
Colossians 3:20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
Proverbs 1:8, 10 Listen my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. My son, if sinners entice you (*devil), do not give in to them.
Proverbs 20:11 Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.
If Jerry then follows up with questions on how God talks through a book (which he probably will ask, haha): The Bible is God’s instruction book. He instructed people to write it (Old Testament), then the (Holy) spirit led people to write about Jesus’ life and his teachings (New Testament). The Holy Spirit is the other way God talks to us too.
K – your stories about Jerry asking all these spiritual questions remind me of yet another verse where Jesus tells his disciples to ‘let the little children come to him, do not hinder them, and the kingdom of God belongs to them’ (Luke 18:16)
You and LH are doing awesome! I miss you guys.
Andrew, you can always call us if you're missing family. :) We can nag you like parents if you want too.
Thanks Ann for the guidance. Jerry is a neverending question mark.
I think Andrew really wants to nag our parents rather than the other way around.
It's so good though! They always say the brightest ones are the ones that ask the most questions.
Post a Comment