The Save

When I was about 9 or 10 my big brother gave my sisters and I his old Sega Genesis gaming system.

Us girls would spend hours playing Sonic the Hedgehog together, trying to get to the next level or land.

We didn’t have memory cards or a save mode so that we could save the progress of the game and come back later. When you stopped you lost everything, so we usually played until we were all so tired of playing it we didn’t care if we made it to the next level or not!

Recently Joseph got into playing the classic Sonic the Hedgehog games on our new gaming system. After listening to his stories of the game and answering his hundreds of questions about them I got a little itchy to play myself.

Video games aren’t something I find much interest in anymore (for I have plenty of other things to do!) but for old time’s sake I pulled out one of my favorite games and played.

Yet unlike “old times” I had a new ability. A memory card and “Save Mode”. I could save the game to my heart’s content!

When I got to the final level it was very difficult and I found myself saving the game every time I made an advancement so I wouldn’t lose any ground. As I did this it reminded me of life. Some days every step is a battle, yet I remembered the instructions given in Exodus to the children of Israel. As they drove out their enemies in the land of promise they were to inhabit the place they had taken. They weren’t to drive them all out first; they were to drive them out one step at a time so they wouldn’t lose the ground they were gaining. (Exodus 23:29-30)

I continued to play the game starting to feel like a cheater for how many times I had to “reload” the game. I kept falling and making mistakes, but every time I would reload and try again. Thoughts of if this were the old days you’d have long since lost! passed through my mind.

As I reloaded the game once again, I spoke aloud to the Lord, who is ever present with me, “I feel like I’m cheating.” The game started up again and He posed the suggestion. “Maybe it’s not.”

I played the game, saving it to the last hit before I finally won! With the game now behind me I pressed the Lord to further explain His earlier statement.

The imagery was simple. When my sisters and I used to play Sonic on our Sega it was a picture of life without Christ. You give your best effort to win, but EVERY mistake, EVERY fall is counted against you and you ultimately lose.

Playing Sonic on our new gaming system has the hope of salvation. When you can save the game, mistakes and falls are frustrating, but you can NEVER be defeated.

When someone comes to Christ for the first time we call it “Salvation”. But what about every day after that?

The hardest thing for me in playing that video game was “reloading”. I felt I was cheating; I hadn’t earned my way to that level flawlessly! I knew I should have been GAME OVER! For all my mistakes and falls I should have been out of chances, I didn’t deserve to win.

Those of us who have accepted Christ have found Salvation, but every day He has to save us over and over again, to the last day He will be saving me.

Will we accept it? Will we accept the fact that we can’t live this life of following Him without Him? Will we accept the fact that we need His saving every day of our lives? You can’t do this by yourself and it doesn’t prove anything to try.

When I finally defeated Dr. Robotnik I hurried upstairs to find Joseph, for I knew he would appreciate my accomplishment. Though I had to reload the game 20 or more times to get to that victory it wasn’t any less exciting!

The Lord doesn’t want us to get what we deserve. That’s why He came, that’s why He went to the cross! So He could SAVE US!!! Praise the Lord for the ability to SAVE! No more GAME OVER when we make a mistake! He has saved us and will see us to victory.

Even to your old age, I am He,

And even to gray hairs I will carry you!

I have made, and I will bear;

Even I will carry, and will deliver you.

Isaiah 46:4

He made us, and He will bear us. He will carry us to the final day, to the final battle, He will deliver us.

I had to hit Dr. Robotniks machine one last time to win, but before I did I paused the game to save it. To the last hit I relied on the ability to be saved. I never would have made it to the end, without the SAVE.

THANK YOU JESUS!!!

Thank You for saving me.