Getting a New Computer

We know from the Bible that when Jesus comes into our lives, we become a new person in Christ. But do we really understand this concept? Recently I was trying to explain it to a friend of mine, and this friend kept coming back with fear. “I don’t want to lose myself.” When we finally began to break through what was really going on, he began to accept that there were in fact things that needed to be reassessed and maybe let go of altogether. However, he said, “There were still parts of myself I really liked. I don’t want to have to start over.”

That’s when I came up with how learning to be in Christ is like getting a new computer. Let’s say that you have a computer, and it’s pretty old. It doesn’t work very well anymore. It’s slow and not very powerful. But it’s comfortable. If you have a computer, you know what I mean. You know where the right icons are to do what you need to do; you know where the files are saved and how; and you know the quirks of this particular computer. So even though it’s slow and not very powerful, even though it would be nice to have a new computer, even if it won’t run all the programs you would like, a couple things hold you back.

First, a new computer is expensive. Do you really want to invest the time and money it’s going to take to get a new one? Do you want to expend all that effort? Worse, what if you don’t like the new one? What if the old one is, in fact, just fine?
So you sit on a computer that is out-dated but comfortable.

Then horror of horrors, the old computer starts giving more problems. Maybe it slows down even further due to a new program or download. Maybe it crashes a couple times, or comes close. Finally, you break down to the point that even getting the new one sounds preferable to dealing with this one. “Okay! Okay! I get it. Something’s gotta change.”

So you take the plunge and get a new computer. The first time you plug the thing in and turn it on, the speed is stunning. A blink and it’s up. “Wow,” you think, “maybe this won’t be so bad.”

But there comes a time when you have to deal with what’s on your old computer and getting the files you really need to the new computer. You start sorting. “This file I need.” “This one is completely out-dated.” “That one I haven’t looked at in 5 years.” “This program is one I use all the time.” “That one never worked the way I wanted it to, so I won’t transfer it.”

That’s what we do when we get a new life in Christ. We get the opportunity to “go through our files.” Does the anger you’ve held onto make sense to transfer, or is it time to move on to a new way of handling things? How about the joy you are finding in Christ-does it get transferred? Your reliance on yourself? That’s one that never worked quite right anyway.

One thing you have to do is go through the files and decide what you take and what you leave. Of course, we don’t want to do that. We don’t want to look at our patterns, our worries, our fears and the other emotions that hold us back. We don’t want to deal with those things that have slowed us down and made our hard drives not nearly as efficient as they could be. But in this process, it’s important to look through the files we’ve been running because if we transfer files and programs that don’t support who we are now, we slow this new computer down.

Since this metaphor came through me, I have realized that I get a new “computer” about every three months or so. I learn, I grow, I get a little more understanding of God, and lo and behold, my new computer won’t even run more and more of those unproductive, destructive, old programs anymore!

Fear? I recognize that now, and so on the new computer, I downloaded a virus blocker for it! The new virus blocker is called Faith. Faith immediately alerts me when Fear is trying to get into my computer to cause trouble, and Faith gives me a way to clean Fear off my computer before it does any permanent damage.

Anger? With my Faith Virus Blocker, I got the optional add-on Forgiveness. (I highly recommend this one.) It doesn’t delete the anger automatically, but it does allow me to pull up a list of the anger I’m holding, and it gives me the option to delete it from the hard drive.

Hurt? As a special extra bonus with my Forgiveness add-on, Christ threw in Peace of Mind. The more I use that one, the more I can see other person hurt me out of their own hurt, and what a difference that has made in how my new computer works! Peace of Mind stops me from simply returning the Hurt virus with my hurt. It gives me the option of “Do you want to learn to love like Christ?” Yes or No. What an awesome bonus!

Sorrow? Oh, sorrow. It used to bog my computer down so badly. I was sorry (read: guilty) for everything. If the dishes weren’t done, I was sorry. If the dishes were done but the floor hadn’t been vacuumed, I was sorry. There was always something to be sorry for. Sorry I hadn’t been honest, and sorry I had. Sorry I had done something and sorry that I hadn’t. Everything was filtered through the program called Sorrow.

But along with Faith, Forgiveness, and Peace of Mind, I got the extra, extra special program they were offering. Love. Let me tell you, this is a program to end all programs! It allows me to be gentle with myself. I see now that my old computer filtered all through Sorrow, but Love removes Sorrow altogether. Love has shown me that I did the best I could at the time, and as Love teaches me better, I do better. Love has shown me that the Manufacturer of my computer is not monitoring what I’m doing in order to find something to hold me guilty for. No! In fact, He has implemented a new lifetime warranty that covers all repairs-even if the repair is necessary due to operator negligence and misuse!

I’m so glad for that because to be honest, even with the new computer, I sometimes find myself doing things I know don’t compute with the new one. But Love… Oh, Love! That’s one of those programs I will definitely take with me to the new computer when it’s time to get one.

And finally, in the Faith package, there was a program I had never even heard of before. It’s called Hope. Hope is a neat little program because as soon as one of the others shows a glitch, as soon as I hit a wrong button, or do something that doesn’t compute on this new model, Hope shows me that there is a way to fix it. Before I tried and tried and tried to fix it myself and (let’s get wholly honest here!), I only made it worse. With Hope, I now have a direct line to the Manufacturer. I simply dial: Pray & Be Thankful, and it’s amazing how fast the issue is resolved.

If you are thinking about getting a new computer because your old one isn’t working like you want it to, I highly recommend going with one from the Original Manufacturer. The warranty is the best ever created, the services department is like none other that you’ve ever dealt with, but best of all, that Faith package will have you asking, “What in the world took me so long to get this new computer? It’s absolutely fabulous!”