Learning to play the game

Henry and Harmony got some new games for Christmas--Henry got Electronic Battleship, and Connect 4 (in a cool travel case) was a present for both of them.

They love both games. Henry was begging to play Battleship this morning, and again the instant we walked in the door. His favorite part is the exploding sound when you have a hit.

Unfortunately, they don't really know how to play either game. I need to do all the setup for the Battleship (which is more complicated than I expected), and he's not good at putting the pegs in the grid to mark where he's shot. He also likes to move his ships around, which isn't bad when you're playing a computer, but very confusing otherwise. Connect 4 is a similar story--so far they think the main objective is to fill the grid with the disks, and turn taking is a challenge.

Once again, I'm more like my kids than I'd like to admit. While spiritual life isn't a game, sometimes I think I've missed part of the point. The verse to consider in our devotional today is John 10:10: "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." The accompanying passage in "Naturally Supernatural" talked about this--that somehow Christians have made Christianity about the future, "when we get to heaven."

But there is definitely Biblical support for God intervening in the here and now--He loves us just the way we are, but loves us enough to not just leave us where we are. The "abundantly" in the verse above is perissos, which means "over and above, more than is necessary; exceeding abundantly, supremely; superior, extraordinary, surpassing, uncommon." I don't view God as a candy machine who will give us whatever we want if we just push the right buttons, but He is our loving Father who WANTS to give his kids good gifts, Matthew 7:9-11 makes it clear.

So one thing I'm learning is to act like those things are true--that our faith DOES make a difference in the here and now, and that God likes to answer his children's prayers.


God, grow our faith!