The Use of Misdirection
Each year in September the state fair came to Jackson and every child in the state wanted to go. The Ferris Wheel was a big draw, as were the bumper cars (for the more “conservative” of us). The Merry-go-round, with horses going up and down as the entire group went round and round, was the delight of the younger ones. Adults strolled the midway lined with booths of every description and tents that required an admission fee to enter. Women had an area for displaying their canned goods which were entered for competition.
We children had worked hard all year, doing any job we could to earn money for the fair. A school bus took us from our school parking lot to Jackson Fairgrounds, charging one dollar for the roundtrip. Our parents had given us strict instructions about what to do and not do, where to go and not go, warned us about pickpockets and shysters, and told us to “watch out for each other.”
The state fair was a definite a highlight of our year. One of the most fascinating tricks we saw (from outside the tent) was the disappearing of an object from the magician’s hand and then its reappearing as something else. We were totally mystified. Since those long-ago days, we have learned that there was a “trick” to the trick. The magician or illusionist continually talked as he performed. He had us looking intently in one direction while something else was taking place in another place. It is called misdirection.
There is a master of misdirection – the devil. If he can get us looking at something except Jesus, he wins. Is there something or someone at which he has you looking instead of looking to Jesus? Maybe something has happened, maybe a tragedy that is standing between you and Jesus. You hold it against Him. Maybe you are depending on someone other than Jesus for your salvation or provision. Second Corinthians 4:4 reveals Satan’s plan. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
“Don’t let the enemy of your soul,” as Ron Hutchcraft calls him, “use anything or anyone to keep you from seeing Jesus, to misdirect your attention to something that can never satisfy your soul, and certainly never get you to heaven.”
We need to keep our eyes on Jesus!