'Wii Life'

a real golf course. At the end of the game, the youth said, “I’m really good at golf!” I asked him what courses he played around town. It turns out that he had never lifted a golf club in his life. He didn’t know how to play golf, only a poor facsimile on a video screen. As a friend of mine once said, “There is a difference between thinking and doing.”

This principle is true for all of life. We can think about what we would like to do, plan what we would like to do, and get excited about what we would like to do. However, if we don’t actually do it, it won’t be the reality of our lives. It would just be Wii Life. God doesn’t want us to play at life. He wants us to live life to the full. (John 10:10) The only way to experience the full life Jesus talks about is by doing it. We have to practice

what Jesus taught. The more we practice, the better we get. It isn’t enough to read the Bible – though that is essential. It isn’t enough to even pray about it – though that is also essential. We have to do what he tells us in Scripture and speaks to us in prayer.

At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Jesus didn’t want his listeners to say, “That was a great message. I liked what he said about this and that.” He wanted them to say, “I’m excited to do what he said. It will change my life.” According to Jesus, there is a big difference, an eternal distance, between thinking and doing.

What is Jesus telling you to do so your faith becomes life transforming reality? Just do it. If we don’t actually do what Jesus tells us to do, it is like standing in front of a screen watching a movie about Christians.

Are you playing Wii Life or walking in the way that leads to life?

Getting off the couch and out of the house,

Jonathan