>BASIC
My son’s a gamer. He always thought it would be cool to build a PC but he had never known anyone before who had built one…until Joey, his mentor.
Joey regaled J as he spun tales of each computer he had built, the details, the beauty of it all. Joey told J it’s just like grownup LEGOS. #hooked
“J&J” began conspiring. Which components would be the biggest bang for the buck? What were wants versus needs? They hit a snag at one point as world resources of gold, a vital ingredient for RAM/memory, became short and prices skyrocketed. There was a waiting game.
And then one day, the prices dropped and the ordering began.
Boxes slowly piled up in our kitchen as one by one, the motherboard, CPU, graphics card, keyboard, outer case and the rest were delivered by friendly UPS and FEDEX guys. The boys spent hours unpacking, checking and assembling the parts. The computer was ready. Or so they thought.
Everything was in place.
But something was wrong. It wasn’t working.
I’m drawn to Ecclesiastes this week. I guess God is wanting to show me something through King Solomon’s sad and futile diatribe about life in general. It must have been tough to be the richest and wisest man who ever lived. He had all the resources in the world to make him happy and yet, three times he describes everything as “meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” (Click HERE to view them all!)
But even amidst all the doom and gloom of the book, there is spiritual and practical gold all over the place. What caught my eye today is one of the Top Five Funeral Scriptures.**
“There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven…”
(Ecclesiastes 3:1)
Solomon goes on to describe that there is a time to be born and die, a time to plant and uproot, to kill and heal, and on and on. (Click HERE to read in its reassuring entirety.)
“(God) has made everything beautiful in its time.” (verse 11)
I wonder if Solomon had lived in the 21st Century what he would have written about God’s timing in getting a computer to work…
**according to my girlfriend Ann,
a purveyor of fine funeral services.
This mass of plastics and glass, copper wires and gold contacts, silicon and platinum, LED lights, cords and cables just wouldn’t turn ON. Do you think we were more than a little nervous that it wouldn’t work out? Uh-huh.
Texts exchanged. After hours of troubleshooting and watching YouTube videos, everything seemed set up right. The computer just wouldn’t do its thing.
However, J&J wouldn’t give up. Joey had NEVER sent a part back when building a system and he wasn’t planning to start now. They would work it through until there was a solution. (There had to be a solution!) The stakes were too high.
I love and admire tenacity in others. I value people who are willing to search for and execute effective solutions in tough circumstances.
The Israelites were tenacious. They had priests, scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees that did their darnedest to adhere to the commandments that God through Moses set forth for them. But no matter what the Israelites tried, no matter how many of the 613 Mosaic laws (“mitzvot“) they attempted to keep, it just couldn’t cut the mustard. Their sins would always be before the LORD. Scripture says
“The law was only a shadow of the good things that were coming…For this reason…they could never make perfect those who draw near to worship.” (Hebrews 10:1)
The OT’s temporary solution was blood sacrifice but “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Hebrews 10: 4) This is why Christ came into the world. Jesus said,
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am…'”(Hebrews 10:5-7)
and He headed straight to Calvary. There was too much at stake for humanity’s eternity for Him to turn away or quit when it got tough. The solution was Jesus’ sacrifice. Straightforward and far from simple, the cross and resurrection fixed our sin problem.
Brows furrowed, the techies sat in deep thought, wiping the sweat from their foreheads. Our J knew we were sweating it out right alongside them. There was concern in their eyes and ours.
And then came the lightbulb moment.
Had they remembered to hard wire and press the “ON” switch? Could it be something that straightforward and simple?
Yep. It sure was.
Man, you should see this fancy-dancy computer now! It is absolutely amazing what it can do. Personally designed and fully integrated, it’s whirring like a dream. The graphics are breathtaking and there is no lag-time whatsoever in any function or application.
Honestly, it’s a thing of beauty.
What about us in Christ? What is the >BASIC for us? We were once simply components put together by the Master Programmer but lacking purpose. We’ve been hardwired for Jesus, but it’s only when the “Jesus Switch” is hardwired and flipped we turn on and tune in to the Holy Spirit, too, as children of God.
My Friends, do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and do you want Him as your Lord and Savior? Have you been baptized?
These are the >BASICs of our faith. If you haven’t received Jesus as Savior, please contact us and we would be happy to help you start that relationship.
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