Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Anyone who has children knows about the power of redirection. We have all seen it - one of our kids will be throwing a tantrum or in a funk of some sort and we try to "redirect" them by changing the subject or giving them something else to look at. Essentially we try to change what they are focusing on. It works pretty well - I've been able to develop my redirecting skills quite a bit over the past few years.

A few days ago we were driving in the car and the kids were all fighting and bickering with one another. I could have just told them to cut it out and stop, but I knew those commands would just cause them to focus on their fighting even more. I've seen it a million times, especially with my youngest who is 3. The minute I show her a line which shouldn't be crossed, she focuses on the line and wants to cross it. So, I pointed out a farm we were driving by, which had cows in a field. I said, "Look at all the cows! Do you think those are the milk kind of cows?" It worked. The subject quickly changed from fighting to farms.

"But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of evil desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power." - Rom. 7:8

Like a moth to a flame, laws and commands cause children to focus on the commands themselves and it "arouses all kinds of evil desires within them".

We as adults like to think we are more mature than that, but we're not. A speed limit of 55 makes me want to go 65. A speed limit of 65 makes me want to go 80. Having a "limit" on my speed makes me think about how much I can get away with rather than the reason for the law in the first place - safety.
God knows this, which is why He removed the old covenant laws and "redirected" us to something else entirely - our righteousness in Christ. Jesus doesn't remove our ability to sin, He removes our fascination with it. He changes our focus because He knows we walk toward that which we are focused on. A powerful truth about the Christian life is that we literally become what we focus on. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7). That's why it's so important to focus on our new righteous identity and freedom in Christ versus our old identity and slavery to law.

"For where there is no law there is no transgression." - Rom. 4:15

Religion is dangerous because it often gets confused regarding this. Because there is a fear of new believers continuing in sin, religion keeps all or portions of the law in order to "protect" people from sinning. Essentially religion doesn't trust the Holy Spirit to do His job, so religion tries to do it for Him. It's kind of like over-protective parents letting their teenagers go out alone for the first time. It's sometimes hard to "let go and let God..."

But we must. We must empower and trust our children [and fellow believers] to make good decisions. When they see that we trust them and that they have been empowered to make wise decisions, they typically do. Even when they stumble, they feel empowered to change and keep moving forward rather than getting stuck in a cycle of shame and guilt.

Invoking old covenant law, or any rules for that matter, in order to "protect" our brothers & sisters essentially denies what Jesus did for us - and the Spirit He has given us. It keeps people in a cycle of sin because they continue to focus on it. Like moths continuing to go back to the flame, they remain hypnotized by the allure of sin.

May we learn to "let go and let God" when it comes to our desires to change people. May we learn to simply scatter the seeds of love and truth while trusting God to prepare the soil and make it grow. May we say, "Look! there is something else outside I want you to see."