There is no denying the God-given boyishness that has been planted inside the hearts of our sons. He designed boys with a hunger for adventure, for leadership, and for finding out what they are made of.
As parents, we see these desires play out daily in our sons. They are constantly going to battle against any number of imaginary enemies. They test the limits of their strength, often without any fear at all. They rescue their dear Mommy in hopes that their bravery will be noticed and admired.
God made them this way.
If God is responsible for creating the desires of my son’s heart, shouldn’t we then, as parents, believe that God is also responsible for meeting the desires of my son’s heart?
Our sons’ love for adventure and risk and heroism points toward a God who loves exactly the same things, and I believe that our boys need to know that.
They need to know that their relationship with God extends way beyond a still and quiet church pew on Sunday morning. They need to know that God has wonderful, exciting, and adventurous plans for them. They need to know that God is wonderful, exciting, and adventurous!
With that, here are five truths about the adventure and risk that are involved with being a follower of God that you can instill in your boys:
1. People need to be rescued.
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13
The world is filled with people who need to be rescued from situations, from people, from their sin. It is not too early for your son to become involved in these rescue operations!
You can teach your son what it is to protect the weak. You can show them how to help someone who needs assistance or is in danger. You can model for them that the greatest way to ever serve someone is to share with them the truth of Jesus.
One of the most precious, sacrificial things that I have ever seen my son do revealed to me the “protector” heart inside of him. At a local splash pad, my 3-year-old son noticed a big teenage boy squirting a small girl (2-ish) with a squirt gun. She was crying and begging for him to stop. My son watched them for a moment and, without so much as a look back at me, took off towards the situation. He stood directly in front of the little girl so that the water was spraying him in the chest. And then he said something that I will never forget, “You don’t ever hurt girls! Spray me instead!” He protected her at the expense of himself. That is a glimpse of the love that God has for us, and He put it inside of our sons.
2. God’s creation is marvelous, and needs to be explored.
“Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” Job 12:7-10
Spending time in the outdoors, whether you are deep in the forest or under a tree in your backyard, fosters your boys understanding of God as King of the Wild. God is the one who made the sheer cliffs that boys are just itching to climb. God is the one who designed the vines that hang like rope swings from tall trees. And God is the one who created every single living thing, down to the roly-polies that our boys are so fond of.
When God was shaping the type of heart that little boys would own, he filled it with a desire to explore and discover his world around him. And God doesn’t create a desire without intending to meet it. He gave our sons creation! The mountains, rivers, trees, caves…they declare God’s design and love for our boys.
My own son was climbing a most notable climbing tree recently and I heard him say to himself, “I am so glad that God made this tree.” Yes, and when God made that tree, He had my son in mind.
3. The Bible is filled with exciting stories.
“For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.” Psalm 135:5-6
Every boy is intrigued by a story filled with heroes, villains, action, and ultimately good triumphing over evil. If your home never owned any other book save the Bible, your son’s desire for those stories of adventure and sacrifice would still be satisfied.
If that is true, though, then why don’t young boys typically run straight to the Bible when Daddy announces that it’s time to pick out a book for story time?
I believe that their boredom, or at the very least indifference, towards the Bible is due to our own overly-formal approach. When we as parents pull out the Bible, our mannerisms and tone often become quiet, prim and proper. Bible readings become a time when the children are to sit still, listen, and absorb passages. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that (in fact, it’s great prep for sitting through a sermon), but there can be more to that.
What if, when Daddy called for Bible time, instead of reading through a deep passage in a serious manner, he read through a story in an interactive manner? What if Daddy used different voices, and huge hand motions, and was filled with excitement and passion as he read a story from God’s Word?
I believe that our sons need to see us be filled with zeal and wonder when we read about who God is and what He has done. It is our responsibility and honor to present to our boys a living Word (because that’s what it is!), not a cold, stiff one. Hard stories like God wiping out all of mankind with the exception of one family, stories of bravery and strength like David and Goliath, stories like Moses that show God’s might and salvation…these accounts will get our boys’ hearts beating fast and get their minds fixed on the awesomeness of our God.
A child’s perspective on how to love and approach Scripture will be first and most deeply influenced by their parents. If we share with them Words that are filled with life and written by a remarkable God, if we are captivated by what we are reading, then the foundation for a love and respect for Scripture has been laid for them. Our boys can come to God’s Word always expecting to leave satisfied.
4. Loving God brings blessings.
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11
Nothing about obeying authority comes natural come to us, especially to little boys! That is why they must be trained to obey; there is not a child on earth who needs to be trained to disobey!
But obedience does not have to be drudgery. Of course, throughout the rest of our lives, their will be times that our obedience is motivated out of fear or duty rather than joy or delight. But even now, as our sons are young, they can be taught that following and obeying God is worth it. That their heart can be fired with love to obey their King, knowing that He smiles on their obedience.
There is a big difference between a reward and a bribe. The difference lies with who is in control. When a reward is given, the giver is in control. When a bribe is offered, the recipient is in control.
God does not bribe, but He does promise to reward, just as Psalm 84:11 says. Obedience brings blessings! Loving and following hard after God results in His favor and honor! What a wonderful thing for our sons to know, that obeying in the small areas of life is no small thing. When they follow instructions, speak kindly, come right away, etc., blessings ensue! One immediate reward for their obedience is peace. Where there is no sin, there is no discipline!
Our sons, with their God-given, built-in performance mindset, need to know that a good heart does not go unnoticed by their Heavenly Father. It’s okay to get excited about God’s favor and blessings! It’s okay to be motivated to love, serve, and obey because the God of the Universe rewards “those who walk uprightly!”
But seeking God’s favor must be done with caution. Our sons must know (and we must explain to them) that they cannot define the type or timing of the rewards. They also must be aware of their heart, knowing when their desire for rewards becomes an idol.
5. Heaven is our home!
“But according to His promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” 2 Peter 3:13
My own son is an imaginative dreamer and storyteller. And, to my own joy, one of his favorite things to “imagine” is what Heaven must be like. He will dream up detailed descriptions of the wonder and perfection of Heaven and the new Earth, complete with friendly lions, tall mountains that he is able to climb, and, of course, the ability to fly.
All of his dreaming and imagining has created a wonderful mindset in him…he looks forward to Heaven! His childlike understanding of the goodness of Heaven is the very beginning of (prayerfully) a lifetime of anticipating eternity in Heaven. All of the daydreaming and wondering that our young boys do now will create a deep connection and longing for being with God in Heaven one day.
A man that my husband once knew had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. For the next several months, He studied and read everything that He could find on Heaven. He even taught a course on the joys of Heaven at his church. What resulted was a steady joy in the midst of a raging storm.
As our sons grow to love and anticipate a perfect eternity in a perfect home, their minds will more and more fixed on Heaven before them and less and less fixed on the storms and trials around them. They will become like oaks unshaken by howling storms. What a joyous picture that is to any parent!
So begin daydreaming with your sons! What are they most looking forward to about Heaven? Can they imagine having a perfect body and perfect spirit, with no weaknesses or sin? What about the animals, all of them tame and kind? What must it be like to meet Jesus face to face? The more they dream, the more they anticipate – the more they will long for their home with their Heavenly Father.
What our boys need to know, what we need to teach them, is that there is nothing boring about loving and following God. But instead, a life spent chasing after God is a life filled with all of the things that a little boy’s heart desires.
I wrote this post so that I could share with you my heart and vision behind the writing of my newly-released children’s book, “The Emergency Bird.” I have a deep desire for my own sons to know that the Lord truly will satisfy the desires of their precious “little boy” hearts. When it comes to following hard after God, adventure and purpose is theirs for the taking.
“The Emergency Bird” is a collection of adventure stories about two brave, young boys who love God with all of their heart. Filled with all of the “5-year-old danger” and adventure that little boys love to hear about, these stories appeal to a young boy’s sense of courage and honor all the while pointing back to our True Rescuer, Jesus.
