Reinstalled - Homeword - November 21

Reinstalled

This devotional was written by Kelly McFadden

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering… —Romans 8:1-3

With no warning, my computer suddenly shut off. My insides screamed, “No, no, no, no!” while on the outside, I somehow maintained a relatively calm composure. Silently, I begged for a favor from God to bring my computer back to life. I hit the power button and held my breath. Nothing. I turned my laptop upside down, made sure all the screws were tight, shook it around a bit, and tried again. The glorious sound of the computer turning on chimed through the speakers. “It’s alive!” I screamed in triumph. Quickly, I backed up all of the data. But it didn’t last long. Within a few days, my computer died once again.

To fix the computer, I had to delete everything on the computer and then reinstall everything from scratch back onto the hard drive. After reloading the original software, I added the personal files I had saved. As I did, I couldn’t help but think about the way God reinstalls us when we crash.

God molds us and designs us. He gives us each some similar components, making us in His image. Then, He goes beyond creating carbon copies. He gives each of us a little of this, a bit of that—those things that make us unique—something like the personal drivers and varieties of software and files we add to make each of our computers unique.

In a way that also reminds me of computers, people often get overloaded with information, worry, and struggles, and, of course, we all get infected with that nasty virus we call sin. These problems cause trouble in our lives, and without the right remedy, we crash. Fortunately, our remedy, Jesus Christ, is always there for us with open arms, ready to help troubleshoot our problem areas. God is always available to repair and restore our souls. When we seek Him, He comes to put the pieces back together.

Each of us has our own set of struggles, sins, and failures. Isn’t it great to know that Jesus has already paid the price to have us cleaned up? He has paid the full price. He is waiting for each of us to ask Him to repair our souls.

GOING DEEPER:

1. What areas in your life make you feel overloaded?

2. How can you give God control in your life? What keeps you from doing this?

FURTHER READING:

Matthew 1:20-22; Luke 5:19-21; Acts 2:37-39

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