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Questions
Questions serve many purposes; sometimes they intimidate, sometimes they inspire friendships, sometimes they help sometimes they hinder and sometimes they bewilder. I have come up with a number of observations about questions and will list them here and then expound on each one with examples, comments and explanations both from the world and from the holy scriptures.
1. Sometimes questions are more important than answers.
2. Questions outnumber answers most of the time.
3. Without questions answers often do not appear.
4. Curiosity is a big factor in posing the right questions and in nurturing a healthy enthusiasm.
5. Sometimes asking too many questions leads to trouble.
6. A good question can stop an avalanche of opposition or criticism.
7. Sometimes the best answer to a question is a better question.
8. Some questions are best left unanswered.
9. A questioning mind is a healthy mind.
10. Good questions lead to good perspectives.
11. Good answers are often the result of good questions.
12. The best questions are those that lead to solutions.
13. A good question can be as good as a good goal.
14. A good question can soothe the soul.
15. The most important questions can only be answered by God.
16. One of the best questions a person can ask is ^How do I get right with God?^
Let^s get started.
1. Sometimes questions are more important than answers.
We certainly do not have answers to every question that we think of or ask, but a good question can set the mind in a learning state or a on a quest to find the answer desired. One question that comes to mind is ^Is there a shorter route to India?^ Another is ^Does the earth revolve around the sun?^ And ^Is it possible for me to attain the salvation spoken of by Jesus?^ And again ^Should I take so many things for granted?^ More people should be asking themselves these last two questions.
Luke 6:46 (NKJV) But why do you call Me ^Lord, Lord,^ and not do the things which I say?
Matthew 15:3 (NKJV) He answered and said to them, ^Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
Matthew 9:4 (NKJV) But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ^Why do you think evil in your hearts?
2. Questions outnumber answers most of the time.
With the development and discoveries of science and computers it sometimes seems that knowledge is far outpacing questions. Perhaps it is for some. There are still some major questions where solutions are beyond man^s grasp, How will man provide food for an ever increasing population? How do you create life from inanimate objects? What lies in my future? How can I reconcile my relationships? How do I make something of myself and choose a career? What should I do? Where should I go? How do I solve my problems? What is the best thing to do in this situation? Will God help me? Why, when, how, where? How can I know what I should do? And ever increasingly, how do I fix this computer? And how do I get my computer to do what I want it to do?
John 13:7 (NKJV) Jesus answered and said to him, ^What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.^
John 8:43 (AMP) Why do you misunderstand what I say? It is because you are unable to hear what I am saying. [You cannot bear to listen to My message; your ears are shut to My teaching. ]
3. Without questions answers often do not appear.
How and where do I acquire skills to perform a task or do a work or get a job?
How do I become spiritual?
James 4:2 and 3 (NKJV) Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
John 16:24 (NKJV) Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
Colossians 4:6 (GNB) Your speech should always be pleasant and interesting, and you should know how to give the right answer to everyone.
4. Curiosity is a big factor in posing the right questions and in nurturing a healthy awareness.
There is a very common expression that states that curiosity killed the cat but curiosity is also the driving factor in discovering things. Curiosity and asking questions lead to solving crimes and to developing new products like smartphones and airplane skins. Asking who, what, when, where, how, why, ... are so very important at times.
1 Corinthians 2:15 (AMP) But the spiritual man tries all things [he examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him].
5. Sometimes asking too many questions leads to trouble.
For example, if you ask a criminal what he has been up to he might make you his enemy or his next victim. If you ask your boss too many questions he might want to find someone who is less nosy or more competent. If you ask your spouse too many questions it might lead to serious marital issues.
Judges 16:16 (GNB) She kept on asking him, day after day. He got so sick and tired of her nagging him about it
Proverbs 21:19 (GNB) Better to live out in the desert than with a nagging, complaining wife.
6. A good question can stop an avalanche of opposition or criticism.
Try asking ^Do you have a better idea?^ in a gentle inquisitive tone or ^Are you going to finance this?^ in a stern tone.
1 John 5:5 (GNB) Who can defeat the world? Only the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
7. Sometimes the best answer to a question is a better question.
For example, ^How do you make a lightbulb?^ as opposed to ^How do you make an efficient, durable, economic lightbulb?^
Jesus, when he spoke with Pharisees, sometimes resorted to answering a question with a question. This eventually lead to an end to their questions. However it also lead to them going from persecutors to executioners but then that was inevitable.
Matthew 22:15 (GNB) The Pharisees went off and made a plan to trap Jesus with questions.
Matthew 22:46 (GNB) No one was able to give Jesus any answer, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
8. Some questions are best left unanswered.
Proverbs 26:4 (GNB) If you answer a silly question, you are just as silly as the person who asked it.
Luke 23:9 (GNB) So Herod asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus made no answer.
2 Timothy 2:23 (AMP) But refuse (shut your mind against, have nothing to do with) trifling (ill~informed, unedifying, stupid) controversies over ignorant questionings, for you know that they foster strife and breed quarrels.
9. A questioning mind is a healthy mind.
You may not have the mind of a discoverer or inventor but you might ask yourself ^What should I do with my time?^ ^How can I help my friend?^ ^How can I improve the situation?^ ^How can I make myself a better person?^ ^How can I become a more valuable employee?^ ^How can I improve production?^
Or like when Philip was asked once as depicted in Acts 8:36 (NKJV) Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, ^See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?^
10. Good questions lead to good perspectives.
^Does my present life style really benefit anyone?^ ^Can I do things that will have lasting benefits to myself and others?^ ^What can I do that will facilitate improving peoples mindsets, attitudes and temperaments?^
A question that Jesus asked was: Mark 10:3 (GNB) Jesus answered with a question, ^What law did Moses give you?^
11. Good answers are often the result of good questions.
^What do you think you^re doing?^ asked in anger might be very detrimental. While asking ^Is this going to do anyone any good?^ or ^What is the ultimate purpose for your actions?^ asked in heartfelt concern might lead someone to reconsider and to try to do something constructive. Another good question might be, ^Do you realize the consequences of your actions?^
Luke 5:22 (GNB) Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, ^Why do you think such things?
12. The best questions are those that lead to solutions.
Examples: Why have scientists not shown why God^s designated clean foods are clean and why God^s designated unclean foods are unclean for human consumption? Are scientists procrastinators or lazy or fools? And why has the educational systems not encouraged and even required such investigation and research and revelation? Is Education not concerned with what is best for its students? Are the educational systems just plain evil?
Luke 6:9 (GNB) Then Jesus said to them, ^I ask you: what does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To help or to harm? To save someone^s life or destroy it?^
Ask yourself also, Is there anything that should be allowed on the Sabbath that should not be allowed on any other day?
13. A good question can be as good as a good goal.
Example: Why do our economic systems require landfill sites? Why do our banks require bailouts? Why do our governments make such bad laws? Good people are needed to resolve these issues. Solutions ought to be implemented. There is lots of work to do. Shouldn^t the people doing good work get paid and the people doing evil work not get paid?
Jeremiah 12:1 (GNB) LORD, if I argued my case with you, you would prove to be right. Yet I must question you about matters of justice. Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why do dishonest people succeed?
Another example is found in Luke 18:18 (NKJV) Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, ^Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?^
14. A good question can soothe the soul.
Why can^t I attain salvation from Jesus? Doesn^t the resurrection of Jesus give everybody hope of forgiveness and of eternal life?
Acts 15:6 (GNB) The apostles and the elders met together to consider this question.
15. The most important questions can only be answered by God.
How did the universe and all that is in it come to exist? How is self~perpetuating life explained? When, where, how, why did it start and who started it? When, where, how, why will it end and who will end it? Is eternal life possible? How is it possible that salvation from death is made available through Jesus?
1 Peter 1:10 (The Living Bible) This salvation was something the prophets did not fully understand. Though they wrote about it, they had many questions as to what it all could mean.
16. One of the best questions a person can ask is ^How do I get right with God?^
To answer this question I suggest that you learn what the Bible teaches and that you get help from United Church of God, you can start with their website www.ucg.org. If you found this article helpful you might find my website helpful too, jacquesgauvin.com.
1 Thessalonians 4:1 (GNB) Finally, our brothers and sisters, you learnt from us how you should live in order to please God. This is, of course, how you have been living. And now we beg and urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to do even more.
2007 Jacques Gauvin
Search for related topics. * United Church Of God - UCG - ucg.org