The Surge Protector

If you've ever plugged your computer into a surge protector, you've trusted a small, unassuming device with something valuable. Most of us forget it's even there — until a lightning storm rolls through or the power grid spikes.

Here's what happens inside that little strip when a surge hits. A component called a metal oxide varistor — the MOV — detects the dangerous voltage and redirects it away from your equipment, absorbing the destructive energy into itself. Each time it does this, the MOV degrades. It literally wears itself out protecting the things plugged into it. Eventually, after absorbing enough hits, the surge protector can no longer function. It gave everything it had so your devices never felt the blow.

Most surge protectors don't even tell you when they've spent themselves. They just quietly stop working, having fulfilled their purpose.

There is a cross-shaped truth in that little device. When the full surge of sin's penalty came crashing toward humanity, Jesus stepped between us and destruction. He absorbed what we could never withstand. Isaiah 53:5 tells us, "He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him."

But here is where Christ surpasses every analogy — unlike a surge protector that burns out permanently, He rose again. His sacrifice was complete, but it was not the end of Him.

The next time you glance at that power strip beneath your desk, remember: Someone already took the surge for you.