Like Riding a Bike...

Once you learn how to ride a bike (say, as a child), it is very easy to pick it back up again, even in old age. Psychologists have invested valuable resources to discover why our brains work this way.

I have done my own research and drawn a fascinating parallel with spirituality. Here is what I have discovered:

A wise man once said, "You are tempted more by what you've experienced than what you are curious of." It would have been prudent of me to abide by the counsel of my father but I was curious to find out whether this was really true or not. It turns out, it is.

I could recount to you numerous times in which I stumbled into some sinful behavior and unknowingly found myself shackled by the guilt and shame of that behavior and repeating the process of it again and again with no plan of escape. Likely, you could recount numerous stories back to me.

Perhaps it was stealing for you, or maybe pornography. You were simply curious to see what all the buzz was about. So you dabbled into it at first. It was only a pen from the office, you say. I only looked at one site that first night, you freely admit. Yet something was lost through that first interaction. Something you can never regain. You had crossed a threshold into a territory that had much more ground to explore. And so without recognizing the strength of the riptide you look for ways to shortcut the system, cheat on taxes, or find new websites. Without meaning to, you found yourself searching to find that fresh high that temptation had brought to you with the first pungent taste.

Once you learn how to sin it is so easy to fall prey to the same sin again. Your brain has learned the pathways it needs to take to get there. You know the lies to say to cover your tracks. You are familiar with the high that the sin brings.

You learned how to ride the sin bike, and now you can't unlearn it.

Perhaps you had a friend catch you in a sin and call you out on it. Almost like someone pushing you over when you were halfway through learning to ride. You became afraid to climb back on the bike at all (James 5:19-20).

I am grateful to God that every time my sin bike beckons me to go on a ride something keeps me from getting back on the bike. Because I know I could ride it--so very well. Praise God for the flat tires He has sent my way. For the distractions. For the accountability.

Praise God for forgiveness and grace.

If you are trying to unlearn riding your proverbial bike and there is some way that I can help, please don't hesitate to reach out. We are all in this one together.