Kids: Smarter than you think

I think I underestimate the perceptive abilities of kids.

This year I've been teaching 7 & 8 year olds in my SRE class at a local public school.

They ask great questions.

Although their attention spans are short, once they're onboard - especially with a narrative - then they really get into it. 

One of the girls has been thinking deeply through some of the stuff we've taught. Here's some of her questions:

• So why did Jesus have die in order to forgive us, why couldn't he just do it while he was alive?
• So you've been saying that Jesus is God.  But Jesus prayed to God.  How can he be God then?
• How do we know this stuff about Jesus?  How do we know that the Bible is true?

Another kid had a cool question today:

• You said that Jesus is a judge, so how come in the pictures of him he doesn't have a hammer?

What a privilege and delight to be able to teach these kids!  I pray that they'll come to grasp the things of God (including the mystery of the limits of our knowledge), but more than that I pray that they'll put their hope in him.

Our Father will certainly welcome them.