Why?

Why?  What a fabulous question is this three letter word why.  I think it is an important question and one that we should be asking frequently.  One of the things I like to do when preparing a lesson for church is to ask why the Lord wants us to look at this particular lesson today?  Then we can follow up with another great question - what does the Lord want me to learn from this lesson?  There is no reason to end there, we might as well ask ourselves how. How can I implement these principles in my own life today?  And so the next thing is when.  When will I begin?  Then it is appropriate to come back to what.  What have I learned?  Is that a recipe for successful learning?  Is is a recipe for successful teaching?  I don't know much but I do know that when I focus on the why of the lesson and the what does the Lord want me to learn, I learn a lot more than if I simply look at the historical points of the lesson.  There is a reason it is there, what is it and why do I need to know it today?  That is something that gives me a lot of help when preparing a lesson and when pondering the subject matter.  It gives me strength as I listen to a lesson and begin pondering the same questions about what is being presented.  Just some thoughts this evening on why and a few of his companion questions.