But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. [1 Thessalonians 5:8 (NLT)]
After a security update, I was prompted to restart my computer. Although I didn’t want to stop writing for a reboot, malicious software—whether a virus, spyware, rootkit, ransom ware, Trojan horse, or whatever the latest threat is—can range from being merely troublesome to incredibly destructive, so I willingly stopped my work.
While waiting for the installation process to finish and my computer to restart, it occurred to me how much I’d like a similar program installed in my life. The damage done by cybercriminals and malware is nothing when compared to the devastation Satan can wreak on our lives. Instead of protecting us from attacks on our devices, an anti-sin program would have a firewall to protect us from external threats to our spiritual well-being. Once installed, it would warn us about potential trouble spots and regularly scan our thoughts to keep any sinful ones from sneaking in.
Mercifully, God has already provided an excellent anti-sin program and firewall in the armor of God. Like any computer program, however, it requires a reboot—the life changing one of accepting Jesus. And, like our computers, without regular updating, it becomes vulnerable to the latest threats. Our anti-sin program requires an on-going relationship with God and, if we’re not connected to His Holy Spirit, there’s no chance of defeating the enemy.
But, just as a computer’s anti-virus program can’t defend against the bad judgment of its user, neither can our anti-sin program. It’s not God’s fault when we sin—we have only ourselves to blame for our poor choices. Both computers and people are fallible and there will be times we get bugs in our software or, worse, simply crash. Since I’m technically challenged, when I run into computer problems, I call my tech savvy son-in-law (whose first advice usually is to reboot)! When it’s a spiritual problem, if we ask the Holy Spirit to show us what isn’t working properly and how to fix it, we can be sure He will. He’ll offer excellent tech support involving things like confession, repentance, prayer, Scripture, study, fellowship, and service.
To make it perform more efficiently, my computer regularly cleans out unnecessary files and then asks me to complete the process with a restart. Just as those useless files on my computer need to be eliminated to make room for new data, there’s a fair amount of rubbish in our minds—things like guilt, shame, anxiety, anger, and resentment—that should be discarded to make room for the good news of the gospel. Don’t be surprised if a reboot is required!
Yesterday, when writing about the lack of physical descriptions of Jesus, I realized how rarely Scripture describes anyone. Granted, we know that Goliath was huge, Saul was tall, Ehud was left-handed, Samson had long hair, Esau was hairy, Zacchaeus was short, that Sarah, Esther, and Rachel were beautiful, and that Leah was not. Those brief descriptions, however, were necessary to explain the narrative. Other than their ages, for example, we know nothing about the appearance of Noah, Abraham, or Moses and we don’t even know the ages of any of the disciples! Appearance, however, isn’t important to God.
Decades ago, I found an interesting article in a parenting magazine having to do with negative and positive commands. Because our brains tend to best process the end of a sentence rather than its beginning, when a mother says, “Don’t tease your sister,” the child tends to hear “Tease your sister!” Moreover, telling children not to do something requires them to double process. First, they have to figure out what it is they’re not supposed to do and then they have to figure out what it is they’re supposed to do instead! While there are an infinite number of alternatives to not doing something, there is only one alternative when told what to do! Since vague instructions like “Behave!” leave a lot of gray area, a clear course of action should be given.
The Ten Commandments are the foundation of both Jewish and Christian principles, conduct, and accountability, but they are just ten of the 613 mitzvot or commandments given to the Jewish people. In light of the big ten, many of those commands, such as using accurate scales and weights and fulfilling our promises make perfect sense as do prohibitions about speaking derogatorily of others or standing idly by if another person’s life is in danger. Moreover, laws regarding boundary markers, evidence, assessing property damages, and not perverting justice or accepting bribes certainly were necessary in a new nation. Some laws, like the ones regarding latrine placement, covering excrement, and making a guard rail around a flat roof seem reasonable from a health and safety viewpoint. Other laws may have served as a way to separate the Jews from their pagan neighbors. Perhaps it was because the Hittites, Elamites, and Sumerians were clean-shaven and the Egyptians often were clean shaven or had shaped goatees that Jewish men were not to trim the hair on their temples or shape their beards. Many laws, such as the intricate laws of sacrifice, the blue tassels on hems, reciting the Shema twice a day, and saying a blessing after meals, were related to worship and God.
