Ewald Schmidt

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:12-13

My electronic equipment has a nasty habit of freezing at the most inconvenient of times. It will be working fine the one moment, and the next not performing according to its design at all. The first place I need to check to find the fault would be to see if it has a reset button. When I ask for help, most technicians suggest trying to switch it off and then on again, so that it can reboot. The glitch is usually caused by software that does not run according to its manufacturer’s specification any more. It needs to return to its default settings. How I wish sometimes, that there would be this huge, red reset button somewhere on my body, taking me back to my Designer’s specifications when I discover malfunctioning in my own life.

When we follow the desires of our human nature, we are treading on dangerous ground. Sometimes our desires take us outside of God’s operational plan for our lives. When I act selfishly, when I allow greed or lust to influence my desires, the results are usually devastating in my life, and the people around me get hurt in the process. I think we all have experienced some occasions in our lives where our own choices have had a very hurtful outcome in our own lives, or in the lives of the people we love.

When we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, he takes us back to our Designer’s specifications for our lives. Our operating system is grounded in loving relationships. We were created to love God with all our heart, mind and soul, and to love our neighbour as ourselves. We also live in a relationship with ourselves, and with nature around us. Those are the relationships that have had origins in Paradise, the relationships that still give meaning to our lives today. The Holy Spirit helps us to reset when we have malfunctioned on the protocols of love in our lives. He helps us to return to God, he helps us to heal broken relationships with those we love. He helps us find inner peace, and he helps us to be good stewards of the nature we live in. Harmonious relationships bring peace and joy, it gives our lives meaning.

Prayer: Lord, thank you that you are always just a prayer away from me. I get lost so easily in the static of this world. My mental programming gets scrambled so quickly, and it leads to damage to my relationships. Help me to surrender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, so that I may live and love to your honour. Amen.