Most of us have ridden a bike, but what would happen if one simple change was made?

How does this apply to our Christian lives?

Please see the video below:

Notice how he says:

knowledge doesn't equal experience
with practice you can succeed
distractions can throw you back into the old ways of thinking
once you truly learn a new way, going back to the old way is difficult
easier for children than adults

We will touch on each of these.

If we look at Romans 6:6-14:

... knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

If you think about it, the backwards bike can teach us about our new Christian walk. Before, we look the way we want to go and turn in that direction. Now we go in the direction that God wants, one we cannot always see clearly. In the bike video it is because you are facing the other direction--in real life it is because we can't always see the big picture like God can.

If you think back to the backwards bike video, knowledge does not equal experience. Even though we know how to live after baptism, this is knowledge, not experience. We still have to be careful not to fall into "muscle memory" and old habits.

Romans 12:2:

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

With enough practice, and the Holy Spirit working in us, you can re-train your muscle memory and mostly rid yourself of the previous bad habits of our life before baptism and becoming a Christian. Still, when we are new to our Christian life, distractions can throw you back into the old way of thinking if you are not careful. The more you walk the correct way, it becomes harder and harder to fall back into our old sinful lives.

Psalm 84:11:

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

The Bicycle rideralso found that it's easier for a child than an adult, which makes me think about Proverbs 22:6:

Train up a child in the way he should go,
Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

If we can train up our children in the correct ways, it is much easier for them as they grow up.