Saved By Curiosity

​Meditation
John 4:7-9—A woman of Samaria came to draw water. “Give me a drink,” Jesus said to her, for His disciples had gone into town to buy food.  “How is it that You, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” she asked Him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.
 

Imagine for a moment if cultural norms outweighed curiosity. When Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for water she might have ignored Him just because she knew His request violated Jewish rules.  Or she might have complied yet kept quiet because this Son of Man was weird. Instead her curiosity was so strong she had to ask the question—it would drive her crazy not to know.
Curiosity is often a great thing.  It seizes us by the seat of our pants and throws us onto paths of exploration. The thirst for knowledge should not be quenched by apathy.  How many of us drove our parents crazy by that favorite word, “why?” Or how many of us learned the hard way not to touch fire or lick a frozen pole?  Our inquisitive nature fosters learning and those we remember as our best teachers were those who fed our mental appetite.  

I suspect Jesus enjoyed breaking traditions because He knew that His actions begged questions and questions brought life to those aware of their dying.  By asking, the Samaritan woman graduated from well water to living water.  Her interest was the means God used to bring salvation.   
​
What if we devoted time to honing our curiosity?  Instead of numbing our minds with predictable routines we might engage in learning more about our coworkers, our neighbors, our cultural enemies.  Perhaps we ought to do more to make those around us curious.  If our words and actions came from a well-intentioned desire to be like Jesus we would find opportunity to give reason for the hope we have.  A curious bunch of Jesus-followers could generate some pretty amazing questions from puzzled observers.   What if we devoted . . . ?  
 
Inspiration
Curiosity in the natural world is right, not wrong, and if we are not intellectually curious we shall never know anything, God never encourages laziness.—Oswald Chambers in The Psychology of Redemption
 
©2014 Daniel York  ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)