“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” Colossians 1:28 ESV
I was curious. Beyond curious, I was intrigued. Things came to “life” each time the “plug-thingy” at the end of a long cord was stuck into one of the little faces on the white plastic plate positioned low on the wall (I called those plugs as well). The vacuum whirred, the iron got hot, the fan began to spin, and the big, boxy television worked. I had been repeatedly warned not to “mess with” the plugs.
But it was hard not to notice them because their little faces were in every room in the house. In other places—not at our house—I had seen plug faces with eyes and a mouth. Ours had only eyes—I wished ours had mouths.
One morning after breakfast, I sat on the floor entertaining myself while Momma spoon-fed my little sister, who sat in her high chair. I fiddled with the barrette that kept hair out of my face, eventually pulling the barrette out. I examined it closely. Hmmm. Removing the heavy wire clip that held the barrette in place was easy. I pulled the ends of the wire apart. Wow! It kinda looked like a “plug-thingy” minus the cord.
I glanced up at my Momma, who was chatting with my toddler sister as she fed her. Momma’s back was towards me. I quietly slid on the tile floor close to the wall and the plug with its two mouthless faces. I looked at the barrette wire in my hand—it looked like a perfect fit. So, I inserted it into the plug.
Immediately, there was a loud crackling sound. Blackish smoke came out of its eyes. And despite the plug having no mouth, I received what felt like a sharp-toothed bite. I let out a loud “yelp,” dropped the barrette wire, scooted away from the plug, and held my blackened fingers.
Of course, Momma noticed. And I was in trouble again but learned a lesson that day. When you are repeatedly warned NOT to do something, but curiosity gets the better of you, and you go ahead and do it, there will likely be consequences.
Warnings abound in the Bible.
- Beginning in Genesis 2, God warned Adam not to eat of the Tree of Good and Evil; if he ate of the tree, he would die (Gen.2:16-17).
- God told the Children of Israel that if they worshipped and followed other gods and idols, they would perish (Deut.8:19).
- When Israel demanded a king like the other nations, God warned them of the consequences of their untimely demand (1 Samuel 8:9).
- God sent prophets—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Jonah, Obadiah, and others to warn Israel to turn from their false gods and idols to return to Jehovah God.
- God warned King Nebuchadnezzar in a dream that his pride would bring his downfall. Daniel interpreted the dream for the king and urged the Nebuchadnezzar to repent of his pride, arrogance, and sin and surrender to the Most High God so that the consequences of the dream’s warning would not come to pass. The proud king refused and, as a result, suffered great humiliation. (Daniel Chapter Four).
- The pages of the New Testament are filled with warnings from Jesus, John the Baptist, the Apostles, and other writers of the New Testament books. Those warnings encourage repentance, surrender to God in faith, belief in Jesus Christ for salvation, and live and grow in obedience to God.
As loud as car alarms blaring, tornado sirens, and home security alerts all going off at once, we are warned. Warning after warning, too often, we ignore the warnings and allow our curiosity to push us into disobedience, just as the Israelites did time after time in the Old Testament and as so many did in the New Testament.
Just as surely as disregarding physical warning alarms (car, tornado, home, et cetera) can result in seriously bad—even catastrophic—outcomes, so can disregarding the alarms and warnings God has given us in His Word.
Our sinful nature prods us. It taunts us with thoughts of missing out, being overlooked, or not in control.
Just as he did in the Garden, Satan, and his minions constantly push the idea that God can’t be trusted—He’s holding out on us—the world offers more. And our curiosity is piqued.
We refuse to control the bent of our curiosity. Better said this way: when we refuse to give control of our curiosity to the leading, guiding, and filtering of the Holy Spirit, we can get ourselves into a world of hurt.
“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:24-25 ESV
Spirit-controlled curiosity is a wondrous thing:
- It is an amazingly effective way to grow your relationship with God.
- It takes us to the Word to dig deeper and grow stronger in our knowledge and application of the Word.
- It allows us to effectively engage with God’s people and people who need God.
- It promotes obedience, walking in the Spirit, and fruitful flourishing.
They say, “Curiosity killed the cat.” I’m not so sure about that. I am certain that many believers have allowed their curiosity to take them down dangerous paths of disobedience that ultimately caused much heartache for themselves, their families, and their loved ones. Their inappropriate, ungodly curiosity destroyed (at least for a time) their testimony and dishonored God.
Unbelievers controlled by curiosity guided by self, sin, and Satan may not suffer consequences in the here and now, but a day of judgment will come, and the consequences will be eternal.
No one who stands before God in the judgment will be able to honestly say, “I didn’t know—I was never warned.”
Warnings abound. As believers, we are to be curious in all things that spiritually grow us, which equips us to sound the alarms, light the flares, and respond to the warning signals when we see curiosity running amok in the life of a believer or a precious soul who needs to believe.
Be curious.
“Curiosity is always rebuked as one of the restless weaknesses of humanity, but I am inclined to think that most people are not inquisitive enough. They have not what I call clean curiosity— a mere appetite for the truth.” G. K. Chesterton