Fatal Error

The Blue Screen of Death. Have you ever seen it?

We saw it at church last Sunday morning. Why? Because our church has a computer operated video projection system. It’s just the tool to connect with today’s media savvy generation.

The Blue Screen of Death is what a Windows computer displays when it suffers OS death. The OS (Operating System) is the computer program that runs the computer.

When you see the Blue Screen of Death your computer has “crashed” or “died.”

After the Blue Screen of Death appeared the first words I noticed were “Fatal Error.” I thought to myself, “That can’t be good! The service isn’t over yet—What now?”

Fatal Error means the CPU (Central Processing Unit or “brain”) stopped processing data. Any data not saved is gone forever. And you have to “reboot” or restart the machine.

Computer experts all say that sooner or later every computer will crash. The solution is to prepare in advance for that day by backing up your data. Save your work or you will lose it.

What’s sad is that many computer owners don’t believe it will ever happen to them. So they don’t invest the time or money to save their data.

I guess it stands to reason because most people act like they’re never going to die either.

Now hold on just a minute--What do computer crashes have in common with people dying?

Good question. The answer is that sooner or later both computers and people die. If we don’t think about saving the contents of either one, both our data and ours souls will be lost forever.

Many people don’t think they’ll die in the foreseeable future. And that could be a fatal error.

I once spoke to a man who was very ill and asked him this question: “When you die, what do you think you’ll find on the other side?”

He said he had never really thought about it. And he’s not alone. It’s a common response.

Now why wouldn’t you think about the one thing in life that is absolutely certain? Everyone who lives will die. And everyone who dies spends eternity somewhere.

Many people spend huge sums preparing for retirement. Others spend a good deal of time and money preplanning their funeral. And both are a good idea.

But God’s warning in the Bible to people like that was, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”

What an oversight--planning for life but failing to prepare for death! You lose twice. You lose all the stuff you worked for and you lose your soul in hell.

The Bible says, “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” Which by the way rules out reincarnation since it says we will die only once, not many times!

A Christian is simply someone who believes what the Bible says and trusts Jesus Christ to do what he said he would do--save his or her soul.

When you become a Christian, it’s like backing up your computer. You no longer have to worry about death. You’ve prepared for it because Jesus is your backup. He saves you.

After we die God will “reboot” us at the “resurrection.” Jesus did it first to show it could be done. He will raise us all to face judgment or reward in a new body.

So if you want to avoid a fatal error in life, put your faith in Jesus Christ to save you. He will give you eternal life now and Heaven forever.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!