The extended warranty’s been expired for some time now—just before most of the above symptoms started presenting—and so the cost to repair any of these glitches far exceeds its value. But being a stereotypical Scotchman, spending the money has been hard to swallow. It’s funny how many workarounds I’ve let creep into my otherwise efficient workhabits to accommodate an increasingly unusable piece of equipment:
--I try to leave the laptop on my dining room table (aka KP work room), tethered to the AC cord, since the battery no longer recharges reliably—making it a charming, lap-size desktop unit.
--I’ve been emailing documents to our home desktop by the printer so I don’t have to unplug the laptop and carry it over to the printer (if the battery dies in transit up the stairs, I’ll waste another 20 minutes trying to restart it!)
--Now that the letter ‘D’ is officially off the QWERTY, I try to think of ways to write sentences that avoid it entirely (note: this article is being written on Laura’s computer!)
Actually, after flicking the D-key off the computer for the final time last Sunday night, I realized that God might be trying to tell me something (Laura suggested the message was “close the computer and come have dinner!”) But I heard a different message (with some strong encouragement from my fellow staffmembers)! So, with classic ‘grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side’-ism, and coinciding with clearance sale prices at the Apple store, the proverbial tree in the middle of the garden, I decided this week to give in to my temptation—and I bought my first Mac.
I’ve been too busy to actually take it out of the box yet (it’s personal—I want the mood & lighting to be just right), but I’m ramping down my old laptop and getting ready to convert it another less demanding church-use (German has a place we can use it in the AV booth).
But it’s also gotten me thinking theologically about something as everyday as, well, lifespan. I’ve had that once-shiny & new, now banged-up & bruised laptop for several years—and it feels familiar more than dysfunctional. And that’s how life feels for me sometimes: There’s an awful lot wrong with me—even more than with my old laptop—and my brokenness makes my life not only inefficient, but unenjoyable and unsustainable.
Jesus knows exactly how to refurbish, rebuild, and reboot each one of us—but the question is, will we let Him? If a type-A efficiency-craver like me can put up with a lousy laptop for ages, just imagine how I can justify all the more personal things wrong with my own body & soul. Maybe you’re the same way…
But there will come a point when my old motherboard won’t turn on anymore. My brain won’t boot up, and my harddrive won’t spin. I’ll overheat, freeze up, lose my flash, and be deposited in the ground for the great recycling. And if I haven’t claimed Jesus as my OS by then, it’ll be too late. All of us are on a collision course with mortality—and as Jesus-followers we know that by claiming Him as our programmer, we’ll not only enjoy eternity with Him, but earth with Him, too!
If you’ve treated your soul like I’ve treated my old Dell, I’d urge you to bring it to Jesus’ shop this week (8:45 & 10:30am Sundays at St James). There’s a shiny-new You ready to turn on, and it’s completely free. Granted, most of the rebate comes once we’ve logged off for the last time, but even until then, it’s a great ride here in the body of Christ! And this time, the fruit that looks so good—really is!
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 NLT
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