By now, you probably think I'm the weirdest, darkest nerd in the world. I mean, murderous teddy bears, vampire suspenders, and glowing eyed children? You're probably wondering if I dress all in black and wear my hair over my eyes. Nope. That's actually the opposite of me. I hate dark things and love a happy ending, which may be why God can use all these other things to prick my heart. I have opened my eyes to things I never would've tried before, and that has opened my spirit to hearing God like I never have. In the strange world of Limbo, for example.
Limbo is a dark, creepy game about... well, no one really knows. I played it, and I still don't know what happened. It's a puzzle game about a little boy trying to get to a little girl, and there are all these obstacles and places he explores. There are also lots of monsters trying to kill you, which is why I could not play it late at night. Some people think he is a ghost trying to contact his sister; others speculate he is trying to wake from a coma. Whatever it is, the story isn't really important to my point.
The kid's eyes glow. Okay....? So what?
Well, the entire world is dark. The kid himself is dark. Sometimes it feels like the only way you can see him is because of those creepy glowing eyes. Our world, friends, is dark. There are people dying every day, kids starving, murderers running loose. Sin runs rampant, sometimes even in our own lives. When my life feels black as pitch, I wonder how other people can see Jesus in me. All I can see is my own sin, but there is still a light in there somewhere.
There was a certain time in my life when I thought I was a useless witness because it seemed like I did everything wrong. I felt just like Paul when he said, "I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway." I hated myself, and I berated myself for never getting anything right. That's because I ignored the rest of the verse. "But if I do what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it" (Rom. 7:19-20). God showed me that I am more than my sin, and He gave me these words I have tried to live by: Even in your darkness, be the light.
I am not saying you don't own up to your actions and take responsibility for the consequences. I will quote Paul again to help you out with this. "Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more of his wonderful grace? Certainly not!" (Rom. 6:1-2a) I am not condoning intentional sin. I am saying we all struggle with something, even Paul, and that doesn't make you a nonbeliever. It makes you a human being. Congratulations! You're a person, like the rest of us. What does this have to do with that creepy nameless kid?
The boy in Limbo looks as dark as the world around him because he is part of that world. He is only human. There is still a light shining from his eyes which makes him different from everyone and everything else. Those eyes are what the player focuses on, and that light in us is what non-Christians see.
I sometimes feel like I have nothing to contribute, that I am too sinful, too dark to help others. But there is still a little light shining in my eyes. My actions matter, but my mistakes are not all I am. Even in my darkness, I can be the light. Even when my entire body is black with sin I am trying to break, people can see Jesus through me. There is still a little light shining in my eyes.
Limbo is a dark, creepy game about... well, no one really knows. I played it, and I still don't know what happened. It's a puzzle game about a little boy trying to get to a little girl, and there are all these obstacles and places he explores. There are also lots of monsters trying to kill you, which is why I could not play it late at night. Some people think he is a ghost trying to contact his sister; others speculate he is trying to wake from a coma. Whatever it is, the story isn't really important to my point.
The kid's eyes glow. Okay....? So what?
Well, the entire world is dark. The kid himself is dark. Sometimes it feels like the only way you can see him is because of those creepy glowing eyes. Our world, friends, is dark. There are people dying every day, kids starving, murderers running loose. Sin runs rampant, sometimes even in our own lives. When my life feels black as pitch, I wonder how other people can see Jesus in me. All I can see is my own sin, but there is still a light in there somewhere.
There was a certain time in my life when I thought I was a useless witness because it seemed like I did everything wrong. I felt just like Paul when he said, "I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway." I hated myself, and I berated myself for never getting anything right. That's because I ignored the rest of the verse. "But if I do what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it" (Rom. 7:19-20). God showed me that I am more than my sin, and He gave me these words I have tried to live by: Even in your darkness, be the light.
I am not saying you don't own up to your actions and take responsibility for the consequences. I will quote Paul again to help you out with this. "Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more of his wonderful grace? Certainly not!" (Rom. 6:1-2a) I am not condoning intentional sin. I am saying we all struggle with something, even Paul, and that doesn't make you a nonbeliever. It makes you a human being. Congratulations! You're a person, like the rest of us. What does this have to do with that creepy nameless kid?
The boy in Limbo looks as dark as the world around him because he is part of that world. He is only human. There is still a light shining from his eyes which makes him different from everyone and everything else. Those eyes are what the player focuses on, and that light in us is what non-Christians see.
I sometimes feel like I have nothing to contribute, that I am too sinful, too dark to help others. But there is still a little light shining in my eyes. My actions matter, but my mistakes are not all I am. Even in my darkness, I can be the light. Even when my entire body is black with sin I am trying to break, people can see Jesus through me. There is still a little light shining in my eyes.