One afternoon, a Dad found himself hiking in the forest with his little boy. It was a cool afternoon in Portland, and the two were taking advantage of the weekend-long Summer weather, when suddenly his little boy stopped to ask him a question:
”Daddy, what’s God?”
Smiling, the man looked down at the boy and dropped down to his knee.
”Hey, this looks like a pretty good spot to take a break. How about we sit down and talk?”
”Ok, Dad!”
They walked to the edge of the trail and found a spot in the shade to rest. Dad took off his backpack and pulled out a blanket for them to sit on in the shade. Perfect spot.
As they sat down, the Dad pulled out a small package from his backpack, wrapped in brown paper with string.
“Do you know what’s inside of this?” He asked the Son.
”No, Dad. What is it?”
”Well, it’s for you!”
Suddenly, the boys curiosity turned into excitement and he grinned from ear to ear.
”Why are you smiling? You don’t know what’s inside. It could be a rock!”
“If it’s from you, Dad, I know it’s good.”
The Father handed the Son the small box and he quickly opened it to see a shimmering object inside; a blue Swiss Army watch with a shiny metal band.
The boy quickly put it on his wrist and it immediately slid down.
“It looks great on you” the Dad said “you look like a true gentleman!”
“Let’s talk about God.”
Putting his arm around his Son, the Dad began to speak:
”When I gave you that box, you didn’t know what was inside of it, but you knew it was good. God is a lot like that.”
”How, Dad?”
“Well, I think a lot of people try to put God in a box, like your watch. And that’s not what a watch is made for; it’s made to be worn freely. Those people keep the box away from other people and then the people have to go to them to see what time it is – instead of having their own watch.”
”That doesn’t sound good, Dad.”
”No, it’s not. And it gets worse when people think the person holding the box is God.”
”So, what is God?”
”Well, that’s the thing – I can’t exactly tell you what, or who, or where God is – because God is everywhere. I can simply tell you that God is good, and that you can have a relationship with God, just like you do with me.”
”Does he talk as much as you do, Dad?”
”Sometimes…but usually you’ll hear God’s voice in the quiet moments. It’s almost like a whisper that you hear in your heart, rather than your ears.”
“That sounds cool, Dad!”
”Oh, it is…and each of us have our own relationship with God, just like you do with me. Let’s keep walking!”
The boy grinned and the two of them quickly put their things in the backpack. Still wearing the watch, the little boy proudly swung his arms in big motions as he walked.
“Remember how I told you about God’s voice?” The Dad asked the son. “Well, God’s voice is a lot like this path. Sometimes the path is big and wide, and other times it is thin, but as long as you stay on the trail, you know that you’re going to be safe because it’s on the map.”
The Dad pointed off to a small, scrawny-looking trail that seemed about 25 yards away from their path.
”Would you trust that?” He asked.
“I’m going to stick with you, Dad.”
”Good choice. There are a lot of other paths in life that will try and take you away from your path. That’s why you’ve gotta stick with your map, and God is no different.”
”God has a map?”
“Even better. He’s got the #1 best-selling book of all human history. We’ll read it when you get home.”
Pointing back to the trail, the Dad traced his finger around the map and showed his son the long, winding loop.
“Your relationship with God is a lot like the two of us walking on this trail. We’re enjoying our time together and able to talk. But, if you were to turn around and run away from me – the distance between us would grow.”
”Why would I run from God?’
”Well, people do that for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes it’s because they think they know better than God, just like you think you know your bedtime better than I do.”
The Dad winked.
“There was once a little boy who walked on a path, just like us, with his Dad. Halfway through the trail, the boy decided to turn his back on his Dad.”
”I’m going my own way, Dad.”
“The Dad loved his son, but he couldn’t stop him from running away, and the boy ran as hard as he could away from the Dad…outrunning even his Dad.
Exhausted, tired, and bloody from falling many times on his sprint, the boy fell to his knees on the path and began to cry. He realized that he had made a mistake and soon cried out for his Dad, while continuing further on the path.
”SON!”
Off in the distance, the boy saw his Father running towards him as fast as his legs could carry him, running until he picked up the boy in his arms and hugged him, while kissing his wet cheeks.
”I knew you wouldn’t leave the path, so I ran backwards all the way to find you.”
“God is a lot like this story, Son. He gives you every path to choose, and he will run every single one of them just to find you and bring you back home. No matter where you run or how far you go, God will come running to you when you simply call out for him, just like you ask me for help at home.”
With that, Dad and Son went home.
”Let’s go read that book.”
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