Virus scan:

There was a time when the only kind of viruses we had to worry about was the kind that gave us a cold or the ‘flu bug. Then along came things like Ebola, Aids and other horrific killers.

As if mutating natural viruses were not enough, some misguided computer programmer with way too much time on his or her hands discovered that they could write malicious computer programs and infect perfectly innocent computers with code that soon became known as viruses, capable of doing enormous damage.  

Now, when one of those viruses contaminates a computer, it can cause the loss of valuable data, or worse still, the destruction of a computer’s hard drive. Fortunately other computer programmers, unwilling to flirt with the “dark side” spend their energies writing code that is able to locate the viruses and “kill” them. Most computers these days have anti-virus programs, and if they are updated every few days, will keep a computer safe from contamination.

Virus checkers work in the background, and when we turn on the computer, the virus scan checks to see if any of those destructive little “nasties” have arrived in the day’s e-mails, or as a result of careless web-surfing, and it warns the operator if they have. And that's a very good thing. A virus needs to be caught before it infects everything.  

Did you know that our souls can get infected by a virus?

If we don't catch them right away, they can spread throughout our system, infecting and damaging everything.

Have you installed your soul’s virus checker? Did you know that God’s Word tells us how to use His virus scan…..?

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts, and see if any wicked way is in me; and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

The Message Bible puts it this way… “Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about; See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong-- then guide me on the road to eternal life.”  Psalm 139:23-24

   

King David knew, better than most, the insidious and subtle way that sin can get creep into our hearts, and he knew just as well, the damage that it can do! Just as the experts advise to scan our computers once a day, likewise we need to scan our hearts at least once a day. A spiritual system that may have been virus-free yesterday may well have picked up something damaging in the meantime.

Each new day - every time we turn our mental computer on – we need to ask God to reveal anything foreign that has invaded our system. Preachers call this the “conviction of the Holy Spirit” – Holy Spirit, who indwells each of us, revealing what's out-of-line in us and encouraging each of us to do something about it.

Mind you, this Holy Spirit virus scan can be (and often is) a painful process! As we open ourselves up to inspection, any contaminating thoughts will be uncovered, hidden agendas, bad attitudes and secret fantasies that may have filled our minds and hearts with ungodly passions will be uncovered, and we will be expected to deal with them.

If we have flirted with something (or someone) that we should have avoided, Holy Spirit’s scanning will expose that as well. The “less-than-the-truth” statements will bubble to the surface, and outright lies will be seen for what they really are!

Why not invite Holy Spirit to scan your heart right now…. Spiritual viruses not dealt with are eternally damaging. 
 



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