Avoiding Temptation
Children sat cross-legged on the floor in various spots around the room. Some were matching planet names to images of the solar system, while others were performing long multiplication using a checkerboard tool. Students were occupied with a variety of tasks, some quietly working on their own, others quizzing each other on multiplication facts. I watched, amazed at how smoothly the classroom ran, each student following policies and procedures without any reminders from the teacher.
After my visit to the Montessori school, I asked the teacher how he kept the students on task when everyone seemed to be going his or her own way. He explained that because the students were busy exploring topics that made them curious, they were internally motivated to stay focused. The rules were posted on the board, but the students did not need help following them. They were much too busy learning to get distracted or get into trouble.
This reminded me of the story of King David and his fall into adultery. When did he step out of God’s clearly defined expectations? David’s poor choice occurred when he wasn’t keeping busy doing his job. His gaze wandered away from his focus because he wasn’t staying busy doing the work he was supposed to be doing. He should have been leading his men into war, reclaiming God’s land for His people. But, instead, he was lounging around the castle, with nothing better to do than look out the window at a woman who wasn’t his wife.
My children seem to follow the same pattern. When they are reading a book and doing their homework, I don’t hear the typical arguments coming from the bedroom. But, put them in a car for 20 minutes with nothing to do, and they find a million things to do and say that they shouldn’t be doing or saying.
I’ve noticed it in my own life too. Whenever I want to just relax and stop keeping a focus on my duties as wife, mother or teacher, I am more tempted to make bad choices. When the mind is not clearly occupied with a purpose, it will certainly wander off where it ought not to go. You know what I mean. When does gossip start to come unbidden from our lips? When we have more time on our hands than we know what to do with. When do inappropriate television programs lure us in? When we have too much empty space in the day and we get bored.
But when we are busy, really occupied with God’s purposes in our life, the temptation to sin fades into the background.
Good post, Heather!
We need to be working for the Lord to avoid the lure of sin.
We need to focus more on God, less on the world.
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