What's inside?    (10/21/2007)

Have you seen those advertisements pushing soap powders with a 'secret ingredient' - some unique chemical formula that makes this one different from all the dozens of very similar products on the shelf? Well, the 'secret ingredient' marketing idea has reached the high-tech computer world.

If you own or use a personal computer you may have seen the slogan 'Intel Inside' stuck on the front (exception: Apple Mac users), perhaps wondering what it means, or whether it would 'spoil some vast eternal plan' if it was one of Intel's competitors, such as Motorola or AMD instead. It has been a well-conceived joint marketing tactic between makers of computers and the largest maker of the all-important processor chip around which the computer is designed.

Intel, the Silicon Valley chip maker, designs and makes the microprocessors which are the 'brain' of any computer, and this slogan implies that computers designed with one of its competitors' processor chips are in some way inferior to its own.
If this subtlety has passed you by, you wouldn't be the only one, but it does rest on the valid assumption that what is inside, the 'brain' or even the heart of the computer, although unseen, fundamentally affects how the computer behaves.

And as an explanation of how your life is radically changed when you become a Christian, 'Jesus Inside' would be a perfect summary. As the NT writer Paul put it in his letter to the church at Collossae, letting them into the mystery of what had happened to them when they put their faith in Jesus - 'Christ in you, the hope of glory...' (Col 1:27).

The truth is that being a Christian is not just agreeing with a set of propositions about God, joining an organisation of like-minded people, or even trying to following a list of rules. Indeed, if you are trying to live a good life and please God by obeying rules, you are bound to fail, along with everyone else who has tried that way.

But God's solution is far more radical. It is a new processor, a new heart, Jesus living in you — forgiving your past, changing your present, and giving you hope for the future.

For Paul himself, the change could not have been more dramatic. He was once the arch-enemy of the first Christians, getting them thrown into prison, even having them executed. Then one day he met the risen Jesus on the Damascus road, and his life was changed forever. He became a 'Jesus Inside' man, and went on to become one of the most powerful first-century preachers and writers of the good news.

Of course, there are valid alternatives to 'Intel Inside' for your computer. Maybe yours features an AMD processor, and that will be fine, too, despite Intel's slogan. But for us humans, there really is no substitute.

Make sure that for you it really is 'Jesus Inside' .



Pray: Father, thank you that my life can be made new through Jesus living in me. Help me to put my trust in him.

Challenge: If you are already a Christian, make a point of reflecting on how Jesus would respond in every circumstance you find yourself in this week. Let Jesus be 'Jesus inside' you in your responses.

Think about: What does Jesus pray will result from his being in those who would come to believe in him? John 17 20-26

Read the book: Living Grace - Letting Jesus be Jesus in You

Watch a video clip: The Power of Your Love

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