Originally Posted by Mike Young October 2005
Our four year-old son, Benjamin, is in a tough spot. He is the youngest of three sons in our family and refuses to believe that there are things he can’t or shouldn’t do. Anything he sees his brothers doing is fair game for him as well. When you say, “Ben, you can’t do that yet, you aren’t big enough…” He typically responds with much enthusiasm. “Yes I can do it! I’m BIG!” Many months ago, when he was only three, we observed that the full trash bag had been removed from the can adjacent to the counter in our kitchen. When we asked who pulled it out… Ben said, “I did and it was hard because it was BIG like me! I used my strong, strong muscles and got it out.” We still aren’t sure how he got it out without a mess because he was barely taller than the can. We laugh every time we remember this event.
Do you remember, as a boy, thinking about being BIG? Did you wish you were BIG? I imagine there are times when we have all wished we were BIG. Did you do things because you knew that’s what BIG people did?
There are probably times when we felt BIG because we…
- got to go somewhere with Daddy
- were allowed to ride our bike to a friend’s house for the first time
- were given a sip of coffee
- found a table knife beside our plate at dinner time
- were trusted with some ‘adult’ task for the first time
- got to drive granddad’s tractor
Have you ever pondered why ‘being BIG’ is so important to little boys? A lot of it, I’m sure, has to do with wanting to be like Daddy. I guess, in a boy’s eyes, there is power, authority and influence associated with being BIG. There is a world of opportunity and adventure available to BIG people.
Isn’t it amazing though, that when we actually are BIG we realize that being BIG isn’t all that it looked like from the other side? BIG people have BIG responsibilities and sometimes make BIG mistakes. It isn’t always easy to be BIG.
There’s another thing about being BIG. I remember as a little boy wondering, “How BIG is God?” My boys will sometimes engage each other and me in this debate. It is at these times, I am most thankful for VeggieTales, “God is bigger than the boogey man. He’s bigger than Godzilla or the monsters on TV and He’s watching out for you and me!”
It is hard to get your arms around the concept of the size of God. In our new focal verse, Paul prayed for the Ephesians to have power to conceive of the size of God’s love. Not how BIG God is, but how BIG His love is.
I will never understand it fully, but I’m thankful for it. I’ve been talking with some men lately about mistakes made along the way of life.
Thankfully, there are no mistakes so BIG that God can’t or won’t love us through.
When I screw up, I’m reminded of how small I really am and am thankful that my BIG God is nearby. And even as Ben truly grows BIG, I want to make sure he realizes that God is BIGGER, not in a frightening way, but in a loving way.