The Game of My Life:

1. Eng. 20-1 Ms. Marrin The Game of My Life: Christianity March 14, 2011 By: Kaelan Parr

2. Christianity has influenced me positively in all areas of my life. My whole life long I have grown up in a Christian family. Every Sunday we went to church and every night had some time devoted for studying the Bible. It wasn’t just a ritual to do these things; it was heart felt and sincere. To call being a Christian the “Game of My Life” would be, in truth, misleading. Being a Christian demands my whole life, not just on Sunday, but every single day of the week. As far how important Christianity is to me, it is like a calculator is to a math student or pots and pans to a chef.

3. Half Heartedly? Since being a Christian takes up my whole life, it is extremely important to my identity. It has motivated me in school and elsewhere to do my best, when otherwise, I might not have cared at all. It is a part of the age old battle that everyone struggles with. There are certain things that everyone doesn’t want to do, doesn’t feel like doing, but if someone is motivated, they will do it. Being a Christian is my main form of motivation in life. I would be ashamed to not do my best in the important things that I am required to undertake. I suppose when I don’t want to do anything, what usually comes to mind is the acronym WWJD. I’m sure that you’ve seen it before; “What Would Jesus Do?” I know that to only do things half heartedly, would be wrong. Jesus, when he was on earth didn’t exactly say to the Pharisees (the Jewish religious leaders): “Whatever you want to do is fine. If you want to believe in Me, great, but if not, that’s alright because I don’t really want to be here.” But He didn’t do that, he called them a brood of vipers! He did everything so that people could be saved. He didn’t have to die on the cross, but he did. He died for me, so why would I just accept mediocrity, when I had someone give more than I could ever give?!

4. It is kind of like a story that I heard once that is over sixty years old. In fact, I made it up about five seconds ago. The story goes that a soldier of World War Two was in the line of fire. There was no where he could go when he suddenly saw an enemy soldier pop up, seemingly out of the ground. Time seemed to slow as he saw the eye of the enemy soldier glinting in the semidarkness, looking down the barrel of his MP40 submachine gun. Any second, he knew he would be thrown back, tossed like a rag doll, with multiple bullet holes in his body, or in other words, dead. Suddenly it happened; he was tossed sideways as he saw flame spurt from the end of the barrel. It confused him until he realized that a fellow soldier had pushed him out of the way, taking the bullets meant for him. Suddenly life had a new meaning, because someone died for him. After the war, he was a changed man. He became a better father, a better husband, a better employee, and a better Christian. Everyone wondered at the change in him. He was living on borrowed time. It is the same way for me; I’m living on borrowed time.

5. A Story of My Life If I wasn’t a Christian, I wouldn’t be living on borrowed time. Because of this, it wouldn’t be nearly the same person writing this response if I wasn’t a Christian; who knows, I might not even be writing this at all. For me, the importance of being a Christian is like the importance of water to a fish. It is virtually impossible to come up with a story about how being a Christian has shaped my identity. Since I first made a decision to follow Christ at seven years of age (and before), I was brought up using Christian principles. It has become so deeply entrenched with who I am as a human being; there is no way a single story could come out of it without unravelling the threads of my tapestry of life. While there have been times that come to mind that have affected my identity, there is nothing utterly spectacular.

6. When I attended my old school, my classmates, were, on the whole, a pain in the derriere. Thankfully I had some positive role models, because I didn’t have any real friends, and I spent my noon hours alone, reading a book if I had one. Being a Christian gave me positive role models that I wouldn’t have had any other way. You see, while most kids only have their parents, I had many more: my pastors, teachers, friends, and my Lord Jesus Christ. These positive role models helped me to persevere through my first ten years of torture, and helped to forge my tapestry of life. Wait a minute, did I say torture? I meant school. Perseverance Role Models

7. In Conclusion… Being a Christian is very important to me. It is most definitely the game of my life if there ever was one. I do not, however, feel that it is a game; it is a very serious thing for me. For me, it is most definitely a source of comfort to know that there is someone who “...is greater than all other gods,” (Exodus 18:11). When I say this I mean that He is in total control. It is like the way a small child looks at his father. A little boy’s father is their hero. Wouldn’t you be comforted if you were a child, knowing that you have a father who loves you? In the same way nothing will happen to you that catches Him by surprise.