CURIOSITY WITH DISCERNMENT
Curiosity is okay. Learning about something? But have you
ever noticed that too often people tend to be curious about bad things—ugly
things, evil actions, etc., and down the rabbit hole you go. Curiosity without
discernment doesn’t usually work out very well. That’s what got Adam and Eve in
so much trouble!
The devil convinced Eve that God was holding back on
them, wasn’t letting them see everything or know “important” stuff. But that
was a lie! God was NOT holding anything back. It simply just wasn’t the time
for them to know about the evil that was out there. Here’s the story, in
Genesis 3:
“Now the serpent was more subtle than any
beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the
woman, ‘Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’
2 And the woman said unto the
serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 but
of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God
hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.’
4 And the serpent said unto the
woman, ‘Ye shall not surely die: 5 for God doth
know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.’
6 And when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the
eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the
fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did
eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and
they knew that they were naked.”
And, because they disobeyed God, they had to leave the
garden.
The devil presented himself as a beautiful and wise
being. But it’s crazy that Eve would believe another created being, rather than
the Almighty God. And yet we humans do that all the time. We choose to listen
and follow the teaching, instruction, and information of another human being or
some other created thing, rather than listen to our Creator, our God.
The Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that
for our own blessing and safety, we want to be “bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ.” Are we conscious of doing that all the
time? How about even in the next 24 hours? It’s honestly not something most of
us really have made a habit of doing.
In one of the most well-known Psalms, number 23, David
says: “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” In
other words, the Lord wants us to walk in a way that exemplifies Him, where we
are going in a way that He leads, so that we are representing Him, showing
people what it’s like to be with Him.
So, the question is, “Are we letting the Lord lead us in
paths of righteousness for His namesake?” In other words, in the actions we
take throughout a day, whether it’s scrolling FB, emailing or texting a friend,
taking a walk outside, being the best worker we can be, etc. etc., are we
letting the Lord lead us in ways that represent Him?
For example, on the internet, since our thoughts precede
our actions, if we let our curiosity dictate which link we click next, we could
be in big trouble. That is, unless we first bring that thought to Christ.
God knew way before 2026 what would be available for us
to be curious about, what would attract us in a good way, and what would lead
us in a bad way. That’s why way back in the time of the apostles, God gave a
word to Paul for the believers. It was to help them, and now us too, to stay in
the paths of righteousness in honoring God and being the best ambassadors we
can be for Him.
Paul said we want to be “casting down imaginations, and
every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and
bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor.
10:5).
I challenged myself on this one! For me, since I’m by
myself a lot these days, it’s not very hard to recognize those imaginations and
thoughts that popped up and wanted me to follow their lead. So I could quickly
ask the Lord, “Should I do this?” “Should I look at this now?” And if I get a
“No,” then I felt like I was literally grabbing that thought from the air and
throwing it down. And it felt great!
So, I encourage you to challenge yourself too. Just try
it, for, say, an hour, more or less, whatever works for you.
I’m pretty sure you’ll find things getting a lot clearer
when you try this out for a few days, and you’ll be excited and blessed with
the results.
Love, Carolyn
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