The Backspace Button

*I wrote this a while ago, but delayed posting it because I wanted to talk about abortion*

Recently, my friend gave me an electric typewriter. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! (no, it's not a mouse)

Everyone, meet Hermie!!!

I didn't really know how to use it, but thankfully my mom did! She used to have one very similar to Hermie. It took me a while to figure out how to load the paper and make a margin, but I quite enjoy typing on my "new" contraption! My dad thought it was the weirdest thing that I actually wanted a typewriter when there are computers and iPod touches in the world. :)

Unfortunately, typewriters do not have a backspace button. Mine does have a correction tape, which is quite fascinating - if you want to delete a letter, you can push a button and the typewriter will try and erase the letter. It works pretty well, but you can still see the imprint of the letter where it used to be.

Or, you can put an "x" over the unwanted letter...

Or, you can take the paper out, apply whiteout, put the paper back in, and then type over the (dried) whiteout.

Either way, the mistake can be adjusted but not removed entirely.

Our lives are kind of like typewriters.

I was talking about this with a friend. I said, "I wish our lives just had a backspace button!" Don't we all wish that sometimes? Maybe we wish that we would've looked before walking so we didn't fall flat on our faces in front of that one person... Or step in that chewing gum. Or maybe it's more serious than that (yes, there are more serious things than chewing gum). We wish we could take back that word we said, or erase something we saw or heard from our brains. We wish we hadn't been so friendly with so-and-so, or we wish we could erase that FaceBook status that hurt someone's feelings.

But my wise friend pointed out that there are many things that can be learned from our mistakes. "What about David and Bathsheba?" she pointed out. I'm sure they wish they could take back what they'd done - but they couldn't. Our actions have consequences. Although they made a horrible mistake, many people have learned from it. Although I'm not saying I'm glad they did what they did or that it was right (it most certainly was NOT!), I'm saying that God makes good things come out of our mistakes. God uses mistakes to teach us lessons, and to teach others as well.

If there was a backspace button, would people do stupid things just to see what it was like, then erase their mistakes and expect to be the same "innocent" person as before? That would be awful! "Innocence" is only given and lost once. To me, a world where people could hurt others and then "undo" it seems like a depraved, not perfect, world.

If we could "backspace", we could avoid the consequences. Although we often have truly repented of the careless word we would like to take back, or the insult that wasn't funny, a world without consequences would almost be like a world with laws...and no punishments. Who would bother to follow the rules when they knew that if things got too nasty, they could start over again, like the "Second Chance" option on some computer games?

Sin is the result of humans choosing to disobey God. Death and separation from God was the consequence, but God's response was not a backspace button, but His perfect Son Jesus Christ, who took the punishment for us, becoming a human who died a horrific death on a cross, separated from His Father. But it didn't end there - Jesus rose again to triumph. Now He is alive again, reunited with His Father. God did all of this so that you could believe and repent and accept Jesus as your Savior.  God's solution to sin was not a "undo" button because He is holy - perfect - and that makes Him a perfect Judge. But He did come up with the perfect alternative - Jesus.

All have sinned, but all hope is not lost - check out Romans 5:8.

So, the next time you find yourself staring at a typewriter or a keyboard, let the backspace button - or lack of one - remind you of Jesus.

If you have not yet asked Jesus to be your Savior yet, and would like help or more information about doing so, comment or message me and I'd be glad to assist you!

God loves you and I do too!
"Klarabelle"

On a side note, I am extremely grateful for backspace buttons on keyboards today. :)