Casandra Martin

I hate computer trouble. I have a technology-impairment. Normally, my computer and I live in an electronic truce – I don’t try anything fancy, and it lets me do the basics. So when my friend’s computer screen went blue, my heart sank. No amount of kind words, offers of chocolate, or threats to kick it to the curb could coax the computer back to life.

Frustration bubbled to the surface. Time ticked on and on as deadlines loomed and the ASAP’s became overdue. My friend called for help. Tech support walked through the steps designed to jumpstart what had died. Nothing. Again. Nothing. A fatal error had lodged itself in the heart of the system.

“We are sending out a new hard drive.” Total replacement was the only answer. Rip out what is broken and start from scratch.

I saw my reflection in the blue screen.

My hard drive is flawed. My heart has a virus, a fatal error that crashes the system. Sin causes the whole of who I am to die. I don’t work right. I can’t compute. I am unable to function in the way the Designer means for me to live. The only answer is to replace the core. The central processing unit of who I am needs to be ripped out and replaced by something new. No amount of reprogramming, alternate software, kind words, or threats will fix the problem. Only taking the “me” hard drive out and replacing it with the heart of Jesus can bring me back to life.

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” – Ezekiel 36:26

My Jesus Resolution today is be thankful for the cross every time I see a computer today. In so many ways, my computer is a mirror of my life. Computers work when they are plugged into the power source. Garbage in/Garbage Out isn’t just about software. I need filters and virus protection on my soul.  And it is what is at the core of a computer that makes it work, fully function, and do all that it is meant to do. The same is true for me. When Jesus is at the center of who I am, there are no more blue screens.