Thursday, February 11, 2016

DJD211 - New Life

Read More Daily Jesus
Scripture:
Romans 8:3


Starting Question:
Things get easier with practice. What are some character choices that are easier for you because you've made them lots of times?


New Life

* Continued from yesterday *

As you click on the ‘new life’ door, you appear in a room. A transparent NPC (Non-Player Character) stands next to you. You click on the conversation bubble over his head and he says, “Walk with me and we will talk as we walk along.”

He wanders away following a faint trail of dots. You can’t help wondering if the developers accidentally left the dots for the NPC, or if they have some purpose in the game. There weren’t dots in the past version.

As you follow along the NPC narrates - telling back story. “This world will look familiar,” he says. “It looks just like ‘life’. But, ‘New Life’ does have major differences. The first being Me!”

A question mark appears above his head and you click on it. Two choices come up, “What about you?” and “What about ME?” You click “ME!” The NPC turns and raises one eyebrow in a very suspicious way. OOPS, you think. Wrong choice?

“In the previous version,” the NPC says, “Good gamers were smart enough to see what they needed to do to stay alive but unable to fully accomplish it because Death was the only ‘end game’. So, every decision, no matter how good was actually either bringing them closer to death or just stalling the inevitable. The fun in that, for the gamer was that they wanted to live, and tried to do so by making the best decisions for their character, but they didn’t actually have the ability to beat the game, only to prolong it. From reading the forums, you know, the best ‘death’ gamers really thought a lot of themselves! Even though the ‘death’ door told them they were going to die, no matter how good they did. But that was before Me.”

The question mark appears again. Click. “What about you?” or “‘death’ door?” Taking the eyebrow hint and the clear rebuke, you click on “What about you?”

The NPC smiles and says, “Now, the programmers have added this new door - I know it seems weird for an NPC to talk about the actual code and script-writers behind the program - but that’s what makes ‘new life’ such a great game! Before you even start playing, the developers have put a new ‘end game’ over your head, if you choose it. You just walked through the ‘New Life’ door. When you make bad decisions, you will be guided with hints and verbal cues to choose differently next time. That’s my role!”

The question mark appears again. Click. “What about you?” or “bad decisions?” You chuckle and click, “What about you?”

“He can be taught!” the NPC chides. “You’ll see a trail of breadcrumbs leading you through ‘New Life.’ Where before you only saw a loaf of bread to steal or not to steal, you will now see that doing good things makes the trail of breadcrumbs brighter and easier to follow.”

Question mark. Click. “What about you?” or “Breadcrumbs?” You hover the mouse over “Breadcrumbs?” but you are starting to get the point of the game of ‘New Life’. You click “What about you?”

“I’m here help you develop your character! The brightness of the breadcrumbs reflect your previous decisions and guide you to greater character development.”

You follow him for awhile in silence and then the NPC says, “‘New Life’ is multi-player. It’s all about working with other players. Every situation has at least two options - one about you and one about others.

And remember, I am here - just click on the breadcrumbs whenever you are unsure and I’ll come and ask you a question or two. Don’t ever wander too far from the trail of breadcrumbs and your game will never end!”


Reflection Question:
What are some decisions you are asking God to help you make today?


Prayer time:
Before you pray together, ask: What would you like to say to Jesus today?

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