No Peeking Now!

I continue to be struck by the difference in the relationship that people had with God in the Old Testament and the relationship we are invited to have in the New Testament.  I was reading in 1 Samuel today.

1 Samuel 6:19(NKJV)

19Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. £He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter.

Many have heard the saying "curiosity killed the cat."  Well I don't know if it did or didn't but it looks like curiosity killed over 50,000 Israelites.  Here is what had happened. 

The Israelites had done something dumb and the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant.  Well that brought all kinds of catastrophe on the Philistines so they sent the Ark back.  The Ark is only supposed to be handled by the Levites and even they aren't supposed to look into the Ark. 

When the Israelites got the Ark back some of them looked inside.  Now did they have any wicked or evil intent?  I doubt it.  In fact one could make the case that they needed to look inside to make sure the Philistines had not put something in there.  Maybe it was just curiosity.  Regardless, God saw fit to kill over 50,000 of them as punishment.

Now contrast that to today.  God has given us His Word for all to read.  He invites us to get to know Him.  In fact, the more we strive to know Him the better.  No matter how curious you are about God, you are never going to die for it like in the Old Testament.

And for those who would like to know God better, what is the best way to do that?  Well first and foremost we do that by accepting Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of our lives.  By accepting Jesus we then get the Holy Spirit to guide us.  That is like having our own personal tour guide as we begin our journey in God's Word, the Bible. 

Have you accepted Jesus yet?  It's as simple as having a conversation with Him.  "Dear Jesus…."