Don't let curiosity kill the cat

take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise. – Deuteronomy 12v30

Of course the illustration of Israel going to live in Canaan is not a perfect picture of us as believers living in a foreign land. They were to conquer and take over the land. As believers we are to go into the strange land and live there amongst the people while we strive to bring them into the Kingdom.

The warning here to Israel was to not let their curiosity get the best of them. They were going to defeat the people, but they had to be careful not to get too curious about their pagan was and their false gods. There was a danger in studying too much about their ways because the curiosity could lead to being entrapped in their way of life and their worship.

There is a fine balance for us to walk as well. We of course need to know what is going on around us. We have to live here. We can’t afford to crawl into some monastery, be it literal or figurative. We have to know something about all that is around. We have to be able to function as aliens here in this land.

At the same time we too need to be ware that we don’t get trapped in their ways because of our curiosity. We need to make sure that we focus our lives and our thoughts on the word of God so we can still tell truth from error.

We are strangers in a strange land. Let’s be sure that we take heed to ourselves. Lets be sure that we do not get so involved in the ways of the world we live in that we find ourselves trapped by them.