Anti-virus

Recently, I received emails from friends warning me about a deadly computer virus that comes with attachments about osama bin laden (what an appropriate match!). So far, I have not received the dreaded attachment (is God merciful or what?). This reminds me of a devotional piece written by Mike Cariño in the book, Real Time: Time to Get Real with God Devotions for Filipino Youth based on his reflection of Psalms 139:23-24. I share a part of it here.

One day, my computer became problematic. It ran slower than usual and showed a lot of pop-ups. Some programs were also not functioning well. I asked my friend, a computer expert, to look at my PC. After exploring what went wrong, he said that some virus infected my system.

Like the anti-virus program that fixed my computer, God's Spirit has the power to look deep into our hearts and clean it from all distractions, dyscfuntions, garbage, and sin. He knows that our hearts are prone to infection by spiritual viruses--anger, pride, unbelief, lust, rebellion, bitterness, selfishness, etc.

Like my PC, I am "virus-prone," too. I still make mistakes and download the wrong stuff. The good news is I can always come to God and ask Him to search me, change me and cleanse me.

Download God's Spirit. Invite Him to scan your heart and mind. Ask Him to show you what stuff you are doing in your life that brings pain, damages others, and offends God. Allow Him to clean your heart and give you power to do the right thing again.

Read more of Mike's reflections in Real Time: Time to Get Real with God Devotions for Filipino Youth available in Christian bookstores by September.