Picked For A Purpose 1. Scattered SeedSample

Seeds of Curiosity

It was curiosity that drove Zacchaeus, a wealthy tax collector, to want to see Jesus as he entered Jericho. It’s always struck me that there was a childlike eagerness in the way he ran ahead and climbed that tree. After all, it was hardly the dignified behaviour one might expect of a male professional! But it is in accord with what Jesus had to say in Matthew 18:2–3, that unless we approach faith with the open-minded eagerness of a child, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Had Zacchaeus not followed his instincts, he might never have known faith. But he did! And as a result, Jesus spotted him and invited himself to dine with him. And it was that event that was to lead to Zacchaeus’ salvation. 

I was barely four when I had my conversation with my father, sitting on a beach in St Margaret’s Bay in Dover, England. One of my earliest memories, it stuck with me because his response never failed to impress me. There were no glib answers. No quick fixes. By answering a question with a question, he made me think it through. Which, as I’ve since discovered, is often the way God works. 

A recent report from Care for the Family asks whether we allow sufficient space for young people to ask questions, and points to those who suppress them because they’re led to believe that to do so is almost blasphemous. Yet to my mind this seed of curiosity, of raising questions, is inherent to human nature. It’s a seed that God sows in us all. A seed that, once sown, might yet grow. Don’t close your mind. Think of the questions that have been raised in your own life, and that of others, whether in infancy or as an adult. Then allow yourself the indulgence of a childish curiosity. 

• What questions did you raise in your early childhood?


• Did those seeds of curiosity result in answers that became the roots of your faith?


• Or do you still have unanswered questions? If so, what?


• Might those questions be dormant seeds awaiting growth?