Goodbye Virus

I spent the better part of yesterday morning cleaning up a virus on my computer.  The stinking little booger had slowed things down greatly, rendered some programs inoperable, and denied access to certain areas.  It left me frustrated, aggravated & at its mercy.  Until it was gone, I couldn't do any of the things I wanted & needed to do on my pc.

Eventually, after over an hour of researching and downloading, I was finally able to find the virus removal software i needed and I set it in motion.  It started scanning.  And scanning.  And scanning.  After a while, I finally left to go do something else.  When I came back, it was still scanning.  And scanning.  I repeated this process...leaving and coming back to check...several times before FINALLY it had finished scanning my entire computer and had found the items that needed to be removed.  So then I started that process.  It began removing and removing and removing, so I left and came back again.  And again.  And again...until finally...it was all gone.  The entire process was nearly 4 hours.  But as soon as it was finished, things improved greatly.  The computer was working faster and more efficiently, and I was finally able to get things done.  The yuckiness was gone and life was good again.  It was as if the virus had never been there at all.

If you know me, you know that patience is NOT a virtue of mine.  (And I don't dare pray for any!!) That being so, I'm so glad that we don't have to wait for God's forgiveness when we mess up like I had to wait for that computer virus to be removed.  What if we had to keep checking back to see if He had decided to forgive us yet.  Back and forth we'd go.  "Are you done yet, God?  Have you decided to forgive me?"  How grateful I am that His forgiveness is instant, and always available.  All we have to do is ask for it.  And once we've received it, the yuckiness is gone & life is good again.  As if it had never been there at all.  

Psalm 103:12 tells us that God has removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west.  They are with us no more.  They can't slow us down or render us inoperable.  He has removed them.  They are gone. Just as if they'd never been there at all.