Curiosity Killed the Cat
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were n_ked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. – Genesis 3:1-7 NKJV.
But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. – James 1:14 NKJV.
We have two cats that are like little kids, and want to look at everything. Their curiosity has gotten them into so much trouble, and it is easy to see how the saying “curiosity killed the cat” came into being. Human beings have a lot of curiosity too, and it has gotten many of us into trouble. In Arizona, a bobcat was the cause of the Cottonwood police being dispatched to three separate incidents. In one of the incidents, which were caught on cell phone video, the cat made those present scramble. Kyle Hicks was one of those who attempted to film the cat with his phone. While he was getting close to the cat to video it, the cat attacked scratching his face, and the back of his ears. The cat also scratched at least one other person on the legs. The bobcat was killed by Cottonwood police officers, and it has been determined that the animal had rabies. All of the individuals that had contact with the cat now have to take rabies shots.
Curiosity got the best of Kyle Hicks, and Kyle now has to receive those shots for rabies. Curiosity to some extent was the cause of the original sin of Adam and Eve. They were tempted, but they were also curious about what the fruit of the forbidden tree would taste like. They were curious about what having their eyes opened, and being “like God” would be like. Our natural curiosity about things exposes us to temptation, and it has been causing trouble ever since Adam and Eve satisfied their curiosity by giving in to temptation. There are many things that we are exponentially better off not knowing about. We may be curious about p_orn, but we will be so much better off without ever having viewed any of it. We may be curious about smoking, but we will be much better off without ever trying it. We may be curious about pot, or meth, or coke, or any of a multitude of addictive substances, but we will save ourselves from so many troubles by never satisfying our curiosity. We may be curious about s_x outside of marriage, but we can save ourselves from so much pain by never experiencing it.
The end result of being “drawn away” and “enticed” by your desires to do evil is that “when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death (James 1:15).” Curiosity may kill the cat, but you do not have to let it kill you, because there is a way of escape as we are told in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
(Curiosity killed the cat, but you do not have to let curiosity kill you.)