What if life was like a game?

God has a plan for every person He has made. It’s bigger and better than anything you could imagine, but only those who believe can take advantage of it and find true fulfilment in life.

I have pictured the game plan of life’s journey as a series of interconnecting games and experiences, with a full range of skills and challenges, fun and learning experiences, with tests and bonuses along the way and great rewards at the end.

Parts of it were mysteries to be unravelled. Then there was a maze to find your way through. There were other sections where jigsaw pieces had to be found and fitted into place, before you could proceed.

There were clues hidden along the way, which had to be uncovered and correctly interpreted, in order to keep you on the right path and take you to the next step.

In some places there were mountains to climb, or tunnel through, or go around, depending on the instructions for the clue for that section. There were valleys to go through and rivers to cross and in one place there were many flights of stairs to climb.

There were places to eat and drink along the way, but the best area for refreshment was down by the river, which ran through the whole land and was bordered by stretches of lush grass and an abundance of shady willow trees. Those who chose the riverbank for rest and refreshing seemed to gain more strength and pleasure than those who stopped at the designated eating places.

There was a great deal of interference by the enemy of the land, who had a storehouse of tricks, traps and stumbling blocks to catch or trip the unwary. Some of his most favoured weapons were enticing distractions, weariness, sickness, negative talk and discouragement. He also used illusions, to cause the players to see things from a warped perspective, so that they were ensnared by unrealistic expectations.

When confronted by these kinds of problems, which often seemed to last for unreasonable periods of time, many people dropped out of the game, or allowed themselves to be taken captive, because the game was just too hard.

At various points along the edges of the game board were exit points, leading to some of the distractions provided by the enemy…and many of those who exited in favour of these attractions, never made it back into the game.

One of the other traps were the stumbling blocks, which appeared at various locations along the road. Those who tripped and fell while negotiating the stumbling blocks were often so badly injured that they never recovered sufficiently to continue playing.

The only ones who managed to complete the game and win the rewards, were those who carefully followed the Maker’s instructions and abided by the rules. I noticed that the best players stayed well within the game board and seldom strayed towards the outer edges.

This is not to say that the good players avoided all the traps and stumbling blocks, because they all had weaknesses and faults. However, when they made a mistake or stumbled along the way, they would quickly return to the instruction book and put things right with the Maker.

It was interesting to try and guess which players would make it through to the end with a clean record. It appeared that those who came through in the end had a humble heart. They were always willing to return to the Maker and own up to their faults and failings, so He could keep their hearts clean and give them the instructions and clues to get back on the right path.

Although the rewards at the end of the game were magnificent, it was surprising to see that by far the greatest majority chose the enticing distractions…and thereby lost everything.