Open, Save, or Cancel?

 

T

he Bible never ceases to amaze me.  Every day there is something so current, so applicable, and so timely, that it could have easily appeared in the newspaper or on the morning news.  I receive news updates throughout the day in my e-mail from various news agencies.  These help keep me updated on current world situations and alert me to important events occurring in various places around the globe.  It is amazing what technology can do these days and it is alarming how vulnerable we feel without it. 

 

However, what is more amazing to me is when I find a twenty-first century example of a Biblical truth.  Every now and then I just stop, staring in total amazement as one of God’s immutable truths hits home to me.  It could be in the car, walking down the street, watching television or just reading a book.  I will come across a story, see a show, hear something in a conversation, or notice something along the roadside, and God speaks so clearly and so distinctly that I wonder why I haven’t heard Him before. 

 

Today’s Tidbit comes out of such an experience.  A few evenings ago, I was downloading some software for my mom’s computer.  The process wasn’t difficult because the computer did all the work. The only thing we had to do was wait until the computer finished downloading the software.  After the download was complete, I installed the program, made sure it was saved correctly, powered down the computer, and rebooted it.  As soon as the computer started again, I noticed a profound difference in its performance, indicating the new software was installed correctly and working. 

 

While downloading from the Internet, I had time to think about what I was doing.  This is a relatively new idea for me.  Usually, I act first and think after, but not this time.  Since the computer needed several minutes to download, I had time to think about what I was doing. 

 

As soon as I requested my download, I got a message on the computer screen.  It asked which of three activities I wanted to perform in regards to the program I sought to download.  The three choices I had were: Open, Save, or Cancel.  I really didn’t take notice of the message at first and clicked the save button.  However, during the next 30 minutes, God showed me how this process was actually a twenty-first century application of one of Jesus’ most famous parables. 

 

In Matthew 13:1-23, Jesus shares the parable of the sower (the farmer who sowed seed) with his audience.  The story is very simple, but its truth is profound.  A farmer went out to sow his seed and the seed fell on four different kinds of soil.  Some fell by the wayside, some fell on soil that was full of rocks, some fell among thorns, and the last of the seed fell on good soil where it produced a crop. 

 

Now if you stop to think about it, you will see that in twenty-first century terms, Jesus has described the process of a download.  We are not downloading the latest technological advance in programming or the hottest game off the Internet.  No!  Instead, we are downloading the very word of God and the option we choose for its integration into our lives speaks volumes about our relationship with God. 

 

The seed that fell by the wayside represents the cancel button.  These are people who have no desire to even hear God’s word, so they cancel the process at the very beginning.  The seed falling on rocky soil represents the open option.  They open the Scriptures, read them briefly, but they never apply its truths to their lives and do not grow spiritually.  The third soil has thorns in it.  These are the people who decide to save the word but when they find out it takes patience, time, and space in their lives, they cancel out of the process.  They started the download, but they didn’t finish it.  The last type of soil was good soil.  This means that the program is opened, downloaded, saved, and used!!  The process is complete.  These are the people who store, save, and apply God’s word to their lives daily. They use the program all the time, returning to it again and again because they can’t operate their lives without it! 

 

The human heart is far more important and far more intricate than any hard drive on any computer.  God has offered us the most up to date, the most reliable, and the most useful software tool available.  All He requires of us is to download it into our lives and use it as our operating system.  But the choice to do so is ours.  Today what will you do with God’s word?  Will you open, save, cancel, or incorporate it?  Are you in need of a download today?