ODJ: cold snaps and curiosity

November 17, 2014 

READ: Genesis 3:1-19 

[Eve] took some of the fruit and ate it (v.6).

When the temperature dipped to -27 degrees Celsius in my city, newscasters cautioned the public against going outside. We were warned that, “In 10 minutes you could be dead without the proper clothes.” After hearing warnings such as these, my husband said what I was thinking: “I think I want to go outside . . . just to feel what it’s like.”

The allure of the forbidden mixed with human curiosity can be a dangerous combination. Adam and Eve had everything they needed as they lived in God’s perfect garden. Only one thing was off-limits—the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God told them, “If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die” (Genesis 2:17).

God’s warning was clear, but the serpent capitalised on the couple’s curiosity (3:1). It provoked them to second-guess God’s rule: “You won’t die! . . . God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil” (vv.4-5). If I had been in Eve’s place, I surely would have wondered what would happen if I sampled the forbidden fruit. Would I really become like God? Would I really die? What would it be like to understand good and evil?

The answers to these questions became clear to Eve—and Adam—when they ate of the fruit (v.6). Satisfying their curiosity and willfully disobeying God negatively affected all of humanity (vv.16-19).

While being curious is no crime, disregarding God’s laws will devastate our relationship with Him. Instead, “Those who love [God’s] instructions have great peace and do not stumble” (Psalm 119:165). Our curiosity should never trump our obedience to God. —Jennifer Benson Schuldt

365-day plan› Acts 27:27-44