Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. Exodus 34:10 

As a kid I wanted to know how things worked. That’s a pretty common experience I think for most kids. They have a deep curiosity for the world around them. For me that came with technology. Someone once tried to explain to me how computer storage worked. I couldn’t believe that they had these metal disks that we could put thousands of files on. So what would any naturally curious kid do? I took a Hard Drive apart. Now before you gawk in awe at the audacity of 12 year old Logan, I had permission. This hard drive was backed up and failing. What I found was exactly as it was explained to me. This did nothing to satiate my curiosity. What’s so interesting is that although I’ve grown up a bit and had many of my questions answered I still find myself curious about the world around me. This is a natural part of life and I believe that God created us to be this way. But if God created us to be this way, is there a purpose for it? Can it be used for good? Well I guess you’ll have to read more to find out. Aren’t you curious? 

Now the Bible has a few stories that we find people are naturally curious and their curiosity is a main point. But I can’t help but think that more than in the obvious cases does curiosity really take a role. The reason for this is because it's very much part of what it means to be human. We see something we don’t understand and we ask questions. My favorite example of this is when I first saw my wife. The first thought that went through my mind was “Who is that?” You can ask her what her thoughts were but I like to think it was at least a little similar. Anyways! The point is that through our understanding of how people work we can start to be curious about stories in the Bible in which the characters probably had a ton of questions. Let’s take Enoch for example.

Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. Genesis 5:24

First of all if you aren’t curious about Enoch you should really go and read Genesis Chapter 5 again. It’s amazing that Enoch is the 7th Generation of Adam and he is the first one to walk with God again. The last time someone walked with God was Adam and Eve before the fall. This is truly amazing! Aren’t you curious how Enoch had this privilege? Me too! We should be curious about the stories of the Bible, it is through our curiosity that we ask questions and these questions can lead us to a deeper understanding of God. I believe that God has given us the Bible to help us understand who He is, so How does the story of Enoch teach us about God?

Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.  Genesis 5:22

Enoch closeness to God is because he was faithful. Enoch grew up hearing the stories of God, hearing the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 where God promised that a descendant of Eve would crush the serpent's head. Through his upbringing it is obvious that Enoch had a deep desire to know God. That’s the key, that’s what I believe God has placed in all of us, a curiosity for God. For Enoch he grew up in a time where there was a division among all of humanity, sound familiar? The Bible tells us of two lineages, the line of Seth who “called upon the name of the Lord”, and the line of Cain who turned away from God. Enoch is in the line of Seth and clearly he took that to heart and called upon God. So what was Enoch doing with God? Could he actually know God? 

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,  neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

God through the prophet Isaiah tells us that He is very different from us. He lets us know that He has a different way of thinking and doing things. Enoch was intrigued by his creator, grew in relationship with Him and eventually God took Him. Isn’t that wild? The Bible doesn’t give us much to go off of here. Some scholars have tried to explain this away and say that Enoch left civilization and nobody saw him again. I don’t think that is going with the spirit of the Bible. The description of Enoch is not that he disappeared,  it’s that God “took him away”. That is a pretty big deal. It’s so big of a deal that very few people in the Bible are taken by God. So what could that teach me about my relationship with God?

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 

We are invited into that same searching for God. Naturally as humans we want to understand what is different. Natural to God is His desire to be known by His creation. It’s almost as if we were designed by God to seek Him. So let’s search for God. Throughout this month we are going through a curiosity challenge, I’ve called it the “Wonder challenge”. I would like to invite you to take this challenge with me. Each week I will provide you with a simple question, if you are at church you will get to hear it during the service, if you are an avid reader of this blog you will get it every thursday. Regardless of when, I’d like to invite you to work your curiosity muscles. This week’s challenge is simple. 

Start each day and ask “I wonder what God has for me today?” That’s it.

By seeking God’s intentions for us each day we get to know Him a little more. Like Enoch walking with God, I am sure He asked a ton of questions and got a ton of answers in return. Why not seek God and see what He reveals to you?