Monday, November 14, 2011

Virus Scan

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23,24

I am a little late in sending out the devotional this morning because when I sat down at the computer I had a warning from my virus protection software that I needed to run a scan in order to make sure my computer was fully protected. Of course this warning was much too important to ignore even though it took a while to do it.

As the scan was running I started thinking about this in a "spiritual application". Jeremiah 17:9 tells us, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" This lets us know that we don't know what "evils" lurk within our own hearts. We may think that "all is well" when it is not. I may think that all is well with my computer and it might not be. There is only one way that I know whether there are any viruses hiding in my computer-- I have to run a scan.

In order for us to discover any wicked, deceitful thing that is hiding in our hearts we have to run a "scan". We do this by earnestly praying that the Lord will show us the truth about ourselves and expose anything in us that is deceitful, is a work of the flesh, or that is the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit. We need to also take His Word and as we read it allow it to be the mirror that will reveal any thing that does not look like Him in our lives. Another way is by listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit when He quickens us to the fact that there is something that needs to be dealt with. I could have ignored the virus protection warning but that would have put my computer at risk. If I ignore the prompting of the Holy Spirit it will put my spiritual well being at risk, and that is something that I cannot afford.

My virus protection program warned me to run the scan because it said that I have not done it in a while. Evidently, I have to do it on a regular basis. When was the last time you ran a "scan" spiritually speaking on your life? When was the last time you allowed God and His word to search you and clean you up? It is something that we have to do, without neglect, on a regular basis if we are going to be, and stay, "healthy" spiritually. We cannot "function" properly for the Kingdom of God if we don't.

Have a great day. When was the last time you ran a "virus scan" on your heart?

For further reading:
James 1:22-24
Psalm 51
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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
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