What if Joseph was only passively interested in the dreams that he had?
What if Moses was only mildly curious with his Jewish heritage?
What if Zaccheus wasn’t curious enough to climb that tree and know more about Jesus?
One of the most interesting things to ask ourselves is the question “What if?” and it opens up a world of possibility that could lead to interesting insights about different scenarios.
Who would have God used instead of Moses had he chosen to remain a prince of Egypt?
What would become of Egypt and Canaan if Joseph wasn’t curious enough to know more about the dreams he had?
Had he not climbed that tree, Zaccheus would be no different than the rich young ruler mentioned in Luke 18:18-23 in whom he shares a contrast with. If he didn’t act on that curiosity, he probably would have been satisfied in knowing that it was Jesus who was passing through the city and went on with his life as a chief tax collector. Had he taken this route, he wouldn’t have been any different from the young ruler who was merely curious to know how to enter the kingdom of heaven and didn’t develop an active effort to pursue it.
If you are happy with merely knowing the “juicy details” of events that happened in the past and the craving is satisfied by a simple answer, well… it ends there. HOWEVER, if that curiosity sparks a craving inside of you; a craving that doesn’t get satisfied by the answer to your inquisitive curiosity; a craving to ask yourself “and then what?”. Yes we can accept that this happened in the past, AND THEN WHAT? Where do we go from here and is there something I can do so that we don’t just get stuck in the past, but we do something in the present that would change and improve what could happen tomorrow.
When that happens, congratulations! Because you just took a turn from the passive to the active. Reaching that point means you are no longer merely observing, but you are participating. This tells us that curiosity is a two-way street. And you- yes, YOU get to choose which road to take.
Knowing something about the past is one thing and knowing something BUT choose to do something about it is a different route altogether. Is it easy? Probably not all the time. Is it worth it? I am confident to give you a resounding yes. What do I need to develop to make it easier to choose this route? 5 simply letters answer this, F-A-I-T-H. James said it best in James 2:18 “…and I will show you my faith by my works.”
In this regard, there are also some disillusioned people who may say “Oh, my circumstance, prevents me from choosing the active path, so I’m good with this path I chose”. The active words here are YOU and CHOOSE. That choice never went away because at the end of it all, it was you who made the decision. And this line of thinking is the first step into the path of passivity because it’s so convenient to trick yourself into believing that you didn’t have a choice when you really had one.
Going back to James, he put it in words very well in James 1:23-25, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
The past are building blocks to what the future will look like by ACTIVELY doing something about it in the present. Let your curiosity not just be satisfied but let it propel you forward to do what you can because there is ALWAYS something that YOU CAN DO.
Allow me to challenge you with a question asked by Pastor Steven Furtick, “Are you passively waiting for God to do something in your life that is awaiting your active initiative?”
Let that question linger and maybe soon you will be less interested in just knowing that Jesus is passing through the city and be more interested in climbing that tree to hear what you can do for His kingdom.
