Desperately Seeking Shortcuts and Finding the WRONG Secrets – Finding God in Video Games

Back when the original NES Super Mario Bros. game first came out, I heard rumors that there was a secret level hidden within the game… the mysterious “World -1”. After a bit of research (that mostly involved asking friends and buying gaming magazines for clues), I finally cracked the code… I smashed the specific blocks at the end of world 1-2 that would activate this secret world, jumped awkwardly through a wall, and I finally found the entrance I was looking for. But once I dove down that warp pipe, I learned the painful truth… “World -1” wasn’t some magical place, it was an inescapable prison. After all that work, all it offered me was an infinite, pointless loop of endlessly treading water until my time expired. The only way out? The reset button.

Life is full of many pursuits, but the true value of each is measured by what they offer at the end of the game. I’ve personally wasted years of my life chasing shortcuts and “pipe dreams” that  promised fulfillment but only led to a prison of my own design. While following Christ may feel restrictive at times, His guidance is designed to save us from hidden traps, unnecessary pain, and an ending that we will regret. Rather than seek out alternatives to the loving directions of our Creator, let’s embrace the wisdom of His protective limitations. His way is the ONLY way.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Proverbs 14:12

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:20-23

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