This morning I turned on my computer, logged in to this blog, and was just about to begin a totally awesome and unforgettable post, when the screen flashed and my computer went back to the desktop.
"That was weird", I thought.
So I began the process again. This time there were terrible pop-ups and banners everywhere! A virus had somehow snuck past all the antivirus programs and infected my computer. UGH! In order to get rid of it, I had to go in, uninstall the virus (thank goodness I found it) and reset some settings.
This experience reminded me of President Uchtdorf's First Presidency message in this past January's Ensign. He said:
I love getting a new computer with a clean hard drive. For a time it works perfectly. But as the days and weeks pass by and more and more programs get installed (some intentional, some not so intentional), eventually the computer begins to stall, and things it used to do quickly and efficiently become sluggish. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all. Even getting it to start can become a chore as the hard drive becomes cluttered with miscellaneous chaos and electronic debris. There are times when the only recourse is to reformat the computer and start over.
Human beings can likewise become cluttered with fears, doubts, and burdensome guilt. The mistakes we have made (both intentional and unintentional) can weigh upon us until it may seem hard to do what we know we should.
In the case of sin, there is a wonderful reformatting process called repentance that allows us to clear our internal hard drives of the clutter that burdens our hearts. The gospel, through the miraculous and compassionate Atonement of Jesus Christ, shows us the way to cleanse our souls of the stain of sin and once again become new, pure, and as innocent as a child.
I am grateful for Repentance. Can you imagine how awful it would be if there was no way to remove all the junk, clutter, and viruses that sin causes? What a mess we would be. I'm grateful to a Savior who made it possible for me to go in and remove harmful clutter from my system.