Stop Being Inquisitive: Seek God to Worship Him
Human beings are endlessly curious. They investigate people, trends, controversies, entertainment, and hidden knowledge. Yet Scripture exposes a sobering contradiction: fallen humanity can search for almost anything while refusing to seek God as God.
Biblical faith is not opposed to thoughtful questions or careful study. The problem is inquisitiveness that seeks information without submission—knowledge without worship, truth without obedience, and spiritual conversation without repentance. Sin does not merely make people uninformed; it turns the heart away from the Creator.
The answer is not greater intellectual effort alone. A sinner needs divine grace: God must awaken, draw, redeem, and transform. Only then does seeking become worship and learning become obedience.
Curious About Everything, Yet Unwilling to Seek God
Romans places every human being under the same verdict. Religious background does not make one righteous, and irreligious ignorance does not provide an excuse.
“What then? are we better
than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” — Romans 3:9-11
This does not mean that nobody ever asks a religious question, attends a service, or wonders about eternity. It means that nobody, by fallen nature, seeks the true God with pure understanding, proper love, and willing submission.
Human inability is therefore moral and spiritual. The sinner is not an innocent person desperately searching for God but unable to find Him. The sinner suppresses known truth because the heart prefers independence. Fallen curiosity asks, “What can be discovered, possessed, or enjoyed?” Faith asks, “How may God be known, worshiped, and obeyed?”
That difference reaches back to humanity’s first temptation:
“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which
is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” — Genesis 3:1-5
The serpent encouraged inquiry detached from trust. God’s Word was treated as something to revise rather than obey. That same temptation remains: to examine divine truth from a position of imagined superiority.
True wisdom begins by receiving God’s revelation humbly. Some truths exceed human comprehension, but they never exceed God’s wisdom.
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable
are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” — Romans 11:33
Grace Comes Before Obedience
If no one naturally seeks God, salvation cannot begin with human superiority. It begins with God’s mercy, love, and faithfulness.
God told Israel that His choice was not based on their greatness:
“For thou
art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that
are upon the face of the earth.
The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye
were the fewest of all people:
But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” — Deuteronomy 7:6-8
Divine election does not give anyone grounds for pride. It destroys boasting. God’s people are not chosen because they are naturally wiser, more moral, or more spiritually perceptive. His saving purpose rests upon His gracious love and unchanging faithfulness.
“For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.” — Hebrews 6:13-14
God’s grace, however, never makes obedience optional. Redemption creates a people who hear and follow their Redeemer. Obedience does not purchase salvation; it is the fitting fruit of salvation.
The clearest display of divine love is God’s gift of His Son:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” — John 3:16
Faith does not mean gathering facts about Jesus while remaining unchanged. It means trusting Him, receiving His promise, and turning from self-rule to live beneath His gracious authority.
Idolatry Exchanges the Creator for the Creation
Romans 1 explains what happens when humanity refuses to glorify God. The problem is not a lack of evidence. Creation displays God’s power, yet sinners suppress the truth and redirect worship toward created things.
“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified
him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.” — Romans 1:21-23
Idolatry is broader than bowing before a statue. It occurs whenever created things receive the trust, devotion, fear, or delight owed to God. Pleasure, sexuality, possessions, approval, family, political power, entertainment, and even religious traditions can become idols.
The visible idol reveals an inward exchange:
“Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.” — Romans 1:25
Romans 1 also describes God “giving sinners over” to uncleanness, vile affections, and a reprobate mind. This is judicial judgment. God may punish persistent rebellion by removing restraints and allowing sinners to pursue the corrupt desires they have chosen.
That judgment does not remove human responsibility. People remain accountable because they willingly love darkness and practice evil. Nor does the passage isolate one class of sinners. Sexual immorality is condemned, but so are covetousness, envy, deceit, gossip, pride, disobedience, covenant-breaking, and mercilessness.
“Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:” — Romans 1:29-31
This leaves no room for self-righteous comparison. Every sinner needs mercy. Christians must neither redefine sin nor treat sinners with hatred. The faithful response is truthful love, humble repentance, earnest prayer, and confidence that God alone can grant spiritual restoration.
Hear the Word, Practice Justice, and Teach the Household
God’s Word is not given merely to satisfy curiosity. It is given to govern life.
“Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do
them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.
Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish
ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” — Deuteronomy 4:1-2
Hearing and doing belong together. God’s people must not add to Scripture, remove what is uncomfortable, or reshape divine commands around cultural preferences.
Covenant profession also cannot replace practical righteousness. God commanded Judah’s leaders to defend those vulnerable to exploitation:
“Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.” — Jeremiah 22:3
Concern for sound doctrine and concern for the oppressed must never be separated. The God who condemns idolatry also commands justice, compassion, and protection for the vulnerable.
This obedience must be taught within the household:
“Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;” — Deuteronomy 4:9
Parents and grandparents cannot surrender a child’s formation to entertainment, social media, or the surrounding culture. Household discipleship requires deliberate instruction, faithful example, honest conversation about sin, and continual dependence upon God’s grace.
Key Takeaways
- Fallen humanity is naturally curious but does not truly seek God in worshipful submission.
- Divine election rests upon God’s gracious love and faithfulness, not human superiority.
- Redemption produces an obligation to hear, keep, and practice God’s Word.
- Idolatry exchanges the Creator for created things and leads to moral corruption.
- Romans 1 condemns sexual sin alongside pride, envy, covetousness, gossip, deceit, and mercilessness.
- Biblical obedience includes household discipleship and justice for strangers, widows, the fatherless, and others vulnerable to oppression.
Begin by examining what receives the greatest attention, affection, and trust in daily life. Put away curiosity that feeds gossip, pride, or distraction. Open Scripture before entertainment, teach it within the household, confess sin without excuses, protect the vulnerable, and ask God for strength to obey.
No sinner can transform the heart by determination alone. Yet God is merciful, Christ saves all who believe, and divine grace can turn restless curiosity into reverent worship. Seek not merely to know about God, but to know Him, honor Him, and walk faithfully in His truth.