CTRL+ALT+DELETE

We’ve all been there – in the middle of an important task, and the computer program locks up. You cannot go forward or back. Finally, you hit CTRL+ALT+DELETE, select the end task, and start over. You try again with a fresh start.

God can be that in our lives. Granted, we don’t have a button to push that erases all our past pain, but like the command above, when we get stuck, God gives us the grace to begin again; we can end the painful tasks and start over with a clean slate.

“Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning” (Lam. 3:23, New Living Translation, emphasis added).

Consider the story of Zacchaeus. He was a tax collector who was habitually dishonest in his dealings with others. Yet, when he saw Jesus coming, he climbed into a sycamore tree to see him over the crowd. He not only saw Jesus, but Jesus saw him and knew him by name. Jesus told him to come down so he could go to his house and eat with him.

Others scoffed at Jesus for going to the house of a sinner. The account in Luke 19 refers to Zacchaeus as a chief tax collector in Jericho. According to the ESV Study Bible, the city was a significant toll collection point for goods passing east and west. Still, Jesus forgave Zacchaeus and gave him a new beginning.

According to the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, he was converted, and because of his newfound faith, he restored the money he had taken wrongfully with interest (Brand 2015, 1687). “If I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold” (Luke 19:8, English Standard Version). When we get above the crowd and what others think of us to focus on Jesus and who He says we are, we can see more clearly, gain a new perspective, and accept God’s grace to begin again.

Jesus tells him that salvation has come to his house (Luke 19:9). This shows that nothing is impossible with God; even a wealthy man can be saved. If you recall, just a few verses earlier, Jesus told his disciples how difficult it is for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God (Luke 18:24-25). However, Jesus follows by saying, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” (18:27, emphasis added). In other words, it is impossible for the rich (or anyone else) to enter God’s Kingdom on their own merits or even to want to seek God above all else, apart from His marvelous grace. In this example, the ruler loved his riches more than God and went away sad. But not so with Zacchaeus. He repented and joyfully gave away more than what he had taken so He could spend eternity with Christ.

We are offered the same grace by a God who cannot lie and sent Jesus before us as a forerunner on our behalf (Heb. 6:18, 20). We can begin again. If we accept the grace Christ offers, we will eventually eat a feast at the banquet of our King. This hope is like a sure and steadfast anchor for our souls (Heb. 6:19). The next time we find ourselves stuck, remember we can always hit CRTL+ALT+DELETE and ask God to help us end our current task and give us a fresh start.

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Cor. 5:17, Emphasis added).