It's All For Nothing
It's All For Nothing
There was a boy who indulged himself in the virtual world. He spent a great amount of time daily on a Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPG) called Isle of Adventure, all the while neglecting his family and studies. In the game, he was a player of great success; he was
a hero, with his own guild and many followers. He had a beautiful wife and countless rare pieces of equipment. To put it simply, he was the "Obama" (now Trump) of Isle of Adventure. He devoted his time, his life, his love and his sense of worth to the game.
As the years passed by, he realized that the number of players in the game were dwindling because many had transferred to play another new popular game - "Sword Online". Many of his followers, even his in-game wife, left him to play the new game. Yet, he was determined to stay in his game because he could neither give up the glory and wealth he had in the game, nor let the time, blood and sweat he had devoted go to waste. He continued to log in daily to play on his own, even when the Game Master announced that the game would be shut down.
The Game Master could not bear to see him stay in the game so desperately and decided to create a character to play with him to try and convince him to give it up. The Game Master asked the boy to think about his life, because after all, he would have to face reality after the game ended. However, the boy refused to listen, still unable to give up on all that he had in the game.
The day came for the game to be shut down. The boy lost everything; all those years of hard work and time turned into nothing. He sat in his room, staring blankly at his poor examination results and thinking about the broken relationships he had with his family. He wanted to escape reality, only to realize that his parents had grown old and could no longer provide for him. It was his turn now to earn his own living and to take care of his parents. No matter how he wanted to jump into the virtual world again, the time to face reality had come. However, he had nothing to face reality with.
Mark 8:34-37
And He summoned the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37 For what could a person give in exchange for his soul?
No MMORPG lasts forever; all will face the day of its closure. This world is like an MMORPG, it is short and limited and will face destruction one day. It is so with life; everyone will face the reality of physical death and can carry nothing of this world with us as we step into death. Yet, how much of our time, our life, our worth have we devoted into this "virtual world" we are in now? As we step into eternity, what will await us? Jesus came into our world, to warn us to repent and believe because the Kingdom of Heaven is near. He warned us to be prepared for the eternity to come. He does not want us to gather treasures in this world, but in the Kingdom of Heaven. He wants us to put away what we have and follow Him, to become His disciples and God's children. Are we still refusing to act on what is truly important in life?
Be blessed today!
Pastor Russ
There was a boy who indulged himself in the virtual world. He spent a great amount of time daily on a Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPG) called Isle of Adventure, all the while neglecting his family and studies. In the game, he was a player of great success; he was
a hero, with his own guild and many followers. He had a beautiful wife and countless rare pieces of equipment. To put it simply, he was the "Obama" (now Trump) of Isle of Adventure. He devoted his time, his life, his love and his sense of worth to the game.
As the years passed by, he realized that the number of players in the game were dwindling because many had transferred to play another new popular game - "Sword Online". Many of his followers, even his in-game wife, left him to play the new game. Yet, he was determined to stay in his game because he could neither give up the glory and wealth he had in the game, nor let the time, blood and sweat he had devoted go to waste. He continued to log in daily to play on his own, even when the Game Master announced that the game would be shut down.
The Game Master could not bear to see him stay in the game so desperately and decided to create a character to play with him to try and convince him to give it up. The Game Master asked the boy to think about his life, because after all, he would have to face reality after the game ended. However, the boy refused to listen, still unable to give up on all that he had in the game.
The day came for the game to be shut down. The boy lost everything; all those years of hard work and time turned into nothing. He sat in his room, staring blankly at his poor examination results and thinking about the broken relationships he had with his family. He wanted to escape reality, only to realize that his parents had grown old and could no longer provide for him. It was his turn now to earn his own living and to take care of his parents. No matter how he wanted to jump into the virtual world again, the time to face reality had come. However, he had nothing to face reality with.
Mark 8:34-37
And He summoned the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37 For what could a person give in exchange for his soul?
No MMORPG lasts forever; all will face the day of its closure. This world is like an MMORPG, it is short and limited and will face destruction one day. It is so with life; everyone will face the reality of physical death and can carry nothing of this world with us as we step into death. Yet, how much of our time, our life, our worth have we devoted into this "virtual world" we are in now? As we step into eternity, what will await us? Jesus came into our world, to warn us to repent and believe because the Kingdom of Heaven is near. He warned us to be prepared for the eternity to come. He does not want us to gather treasures in this world, but in the Kingdom of Heaven. He wants us to put away what we have and follow Him, to become His disciples and God's children. Are we still refusing to act on what is truly important in life?
Be blessed today!
Pastor Russ
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