Recently, I played a video game with my 6-year old grandson. He operated the controls and made the decisions. I merely sat next to him and cheered him on.

This particular game consisted of a series of ever more difficult mazes in which you had to overcome fiery obstacles and vanquish formidable monsters.

One maze was particularly difficult.

It was a 2-dimensional depiction of a 3-dimensional maze filled with stairs and twists.

Even my awesome grandson found it hard to figure out which way to go, how to avoid falling to his death, and how to avoid being slain by the arrows of his foes.

I encouraged him as best I could, since I knew nothing about the game or this maze.

He began dying rapidly. When you die in this video game, you start the maze again.

He explained to me that his strategy was to die as soon as he realized that he had taken a wrong turn and was stuck at a bad place in the maze.

In my terms, he was “crucifying” his bad ways so he could start over in good ways, in wise ways.

I immediately thought of Paul telling us that we must be crucified with Christ.  As Paul put it:

“[W]e know that our old self was crucified with Christ so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” (Romans 6:6 NIV note 26).

“[C]ount yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourself to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.” (Romans 6:11-13).

If your life has become a maze where you’re lost and beset, it’s probably because you’re walking in ways that  “gratify the desires of the flesh”. (Galatians 5:16).

What are these ways?

“Sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like” (Galatians 5:19-21).

It sounds as if Paul assembled this 2,000 year old list of ways to “gratify the desires of the flesh” by studying the ways of politicians in the 21st Century!

How does a person, a community of wisdom, a family, a business, a nation, and a civilization escape a hopeless maze where they are lost and beset?

They need as much wisdom as my 6-year old grandson has!

If he finds himself lost and beset in a maze in a video game, he “crucifies” himself so he can start over in the good way, in the wise way.

In the real world, how do you “start over” in good ways, in wise ways?

By following Paul’s wisdom from 2,000 years ago.

Stop walking in ways that gratify desires of the flesh!

Start walking in ways of the Spirit!

What are these good ways, these wise ways?

“[L]ove, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23).

If you start over and follow these good ways—these wise ways—in the maze of your life, you’ll succeed!

Just as my wise, awesome grandson ultimately succeeded in winning his video game full of difficult, challenging mazes!

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To read more of my thoughts about finding ways through life’s maze—through life’s labyrinth—please read my blogs “The Labyrinth of Light” and “The Labyrinth of Darkness”.

For my thoughts based on other insights sparked by my grandson, please read my blogs “Honoring God with Only Our Lips”, “What Makes a Hero Good?”, and “Sprouting Seeds Takes Patience”.

For my thoughts based on an insight sparked by our dog Toto, please read my blog “Toto Begging For Food”.

For my thoughts based on an insight sparked by our cat Bootsey, please read my blog “The Star of Bethlehem Was a ‘Can of Tuna Fish’”.