Virtual Reality

Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Rev 3:3

The instant my daughter had the virtual reality game visor on I knew we were in trouble. Her face lit in astonishment as digital events pounded her senses. She was melding into a dream-like world of temples, tunnels, and treasures. Would she be so entranced with the realism or terrorized by the assaults she would forget the mission? Lives had to be rescued. I called out, “Remember the mission.” There was no indication my voice reached her over the din of the headphones and the excitement of the game. She winced and shrank from fictional images until I could almost make out which battles the program was throwing at her. She squealed in delight and I knew she had reached the garden of pleasure. I pleaded once again, “Remember the mission.” The game clock was racing - not much time left. Her hands franticly swept something from her shoulders. In disgust she spit out the word, “Bugs!” I recollected the vaulted chamber dripping with filthy insects. “Remember the mission,” I enjoined.

Jesus is on the other side of our visor. We don’t see Him, and only wisps of His voice reach us. Inside the helmet is pandemonium and diversion. We have to remember tests and perils can only reach us if we forget ourselves in the game. When creepy-crawlies fall all around, strain after the Savior’s reminder, “Remember the mission.” Move right through virtual threats. Set your determination on the mission. Find perishing souls and bring them out. Have you discovered the garden of pleasure? Do not tarry. Remember the mission. Don’t eat up fleeting seconds with that which is not permanent or real. Suddenly the game will end, the visor will go up, the monsters will vanish, and we will stare into the true garden. Jesus will clap and laugh as He congratulates us on a score achieved from lives rescued during the game.

Prayer: Lord, Help me remember my mission every moment.