Preface: Non-gamers, please do not fear! Though this series draws upon lessons learned while gaming, they are readily grasped and hopefully encouraging and helpful to all! I cannot call myself a true gamer. I haven’t earned the title: I’ve played a handful of games over the course of my life, I’ve only purchased one game, and I’ve never owned a gaming console or gaming PC. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy video games, nor does it mean I haven’t put in some serious effort and hours.
(Note: video games can easily take over your life, so please play with discretion…but that’s another conversation.)
There are only a few games to which I have given serious thought, but foremost among these is Age of Empires 2 (AOE2). In brief, AOE2 is a strategy game where you build a civilization and try to conquer all the other players on the board (war game). So you might think of it kind of like chess: there are different pieces and simple principles of making moves and countering moves to force your opponent into impossible situations (checkmate) and ultimately his or her defeat. However, unlike chess, this isn’t turn based; it’s in real time. Meaning that you not only want to make the smartest moves, but you want to make them the fastest. It’s pretty intense, and a ton of fun!
So what did I learn?
Lesson #1: If You Want to Win, Play to Win
This might sound amazingly redundant and obvious, but you’d be surprised. This is an old game (released in 1999), and when I first began playing it I was still pretty young. I played very haphazardly. Though I wanted to win, I didn’t play to win. I just played to play to play, and then hoped I’d win.
Now, for a video game, there’s nothing wrong with playing to play. Enjoy the gameplay, the graphics, and the soundtrack and sound effects. But if you want to win, you need to play to win.
It wasn’t until more than five years after I first came across the game that I really began to play to win. I analyzed units, strengths, and the timing of various aspects of the game. And guess what? I began to win, finally!
This lesson can be applied to living life. Check out Paul’s words in First Corinthians:
“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.” (1 Cor. 9:24.)
Several times Paul likens our life to a foot race. And I think it’s a fitting metaphor. And he’s saying, you’re in a race, run to win! Another way of saying this: don’t just let life happen to you, live life on purpose!
Yes, let’s win at life! Haha, what does this even mean? 🙂
It means that our Heavenly Father is a good God, and He has good plans for you and me, and He is calling us to a godly ambition that says, “I’m not going to settle for anything less than God’s best for me.”
Just like with a video game, we can cruise through life, and probably not win. Or we can walk wisely, consider good ways to use our time, invest in things that matter, not allow a day to go by without spending private time with Jesus and win this thing!
You’re running a race, but are you running to win? My first lesson learned from playing AOE2: if you want to win, play to win. I hope that encourages you to run well today. Be blessed!