How You and Mario are Alike

I remember a time in my younger years that I owned an old school Nintendo GameBoy.  I could always be found playing that GameBoy, trying to beat one game- Super Mario 64.  Daily I strived to achieve a higher level than the day before.  Often I failed, Mario fell off a cloud, and I had to start the level over, but every time, I learned from my mistake and didn't make the same mistake the next time I came to the obstacle. 

Super Mario is alot like our walk with Christ.  We daily try to reach a new level, to set a new standard in our Christian faith.  Alot of times we fail, but God's grace is as deep as the ocean and He loves us unconditionally, and forgives us when we fail Him. 

Someone once asked what Christianity was.  My answer is that it's a growing process.  It's following Jesus.  It's giving Christ a broken heart and letting Him mold You into something beautiful.  He loves us as we are, but has a vision for what we can become.  Being a Christian is learning His ways through reading His word, trying to be more and more like Him and less like the world with each day.  The Bible says when we surrender our lives to Jesus, we are new creatures, old things are made new.  Being a Christian means letting go of things that connect you with your old lifestyle, making a change, asking yourself what Jesus would do in every situation.  It's not ritually saying a prayer or reading the Bible, it's loving Christ so much that we long for more of Him.  We pray without ceasing, letting Him guide each step we make.  It's important to read the Bible because it's a road map, telling us how to live and how not to live, a "cheat book" telling us how to overcome the obstacles we face.  And it's a love letter to God's people, promising that this journey to "beat the game" will all be worth it in the end.  Mario gets Princess Peach.  We get Heaven.