Go on a long hike that provides a significant physical challenge for your children. The purpose of your adventure is to illustrate that the Christian walk can be hard, but if we use the tools God has given us, we can get through it. The “tools” include prayer, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, fellowship with other Christians and Jesus.

You’ll use different aspects of your hike to show how each of these tools can help your children live a victorious Christian life. You’ll need to bring along snacks, drink, and a map of your route. You may also wish to print out the following comments and Scripture verses to read at different points during the hike:

• Prayer is represented by a rope because prayer connects us to God and His power.

  Give your children the opportunity to discover how much easier it is to climb a steep hill with the help of a rope.

  1 John 5:14 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
   

• The Holy Spirit, our Counsellor, is represented by a compass or Global Positioning System (GPS). The Holy Spirit is our special helper whom God sends to give us direction. Although we cannot see Him, we can feel the presence of the Holy Spirit and hear His direction when we invite Him to be a part of our lives.

  Show your children how a compass points north, helping hikers find the correct route. If you have one, show your children how a GPS provides direction.

  John 16:7 “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

  Romans 8:26 “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”
   

• Jesus is represented by bread and water. While you are eating the snacks you have packed and drinking some of your water, explain that just as food and water sustains our physical bodies, so a relationship with God sustains our spirits. Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life and said that He provides people with “living water.” Tell your children that God made us with a “hunger in our hearts” – the desire to know Him. Without a relationship with God, people’s souls are hungry and thirsty.

  John 6:35 “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty.”

  John 6: 47-48 “I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life.”

  John 4:10 “Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.’ ”

  John 4:13-14 “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
   

• The Bible is represented by a map. While you are hiking, show your children the route on your map and talk about how the map guides you on your hike. Liken this to God giving us the Bible as a guidebook for life.

  2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
   

• Christian “brothers and sisters” are represented by the fact that you are hiking together, rather than alone. Encourage each other as you walk the trail. Discuss how much more fun it is to hike with other people than alone. Also bring up safety issues that would be a concern if someone were to hike by himself/herself.

  Hebrews 10: 24-25 “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up the habit of meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the day approaching.”

  Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”

  James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

At the end of your hike, thank God for all of the useful “tools” He gives you to help you persevere in life. Thank Him for giving you strength so that you can persevere.

Note: During summertime, take adequate drinking water and protection from the sun. In wintertime, take precautions based on weather forecasts and carry additional warm, dry clothing. Whenever you hike, regardless of the season, be sure to let someone know where you will be going and what time you plan to return. Be prepared with a first aid kit and take a cellular phone.

In 1 Chronicles 12:1-2 we read that David’s warriors had practiced so much that they were ambidextrous – able to shoot arrows or sling stones equally well right-handed or left-handed.

Later in the New Testament, in 2 Corinthians 6:3-7, Paul talks about the hardships he has endured as a missionary. In verse seven he speaks of having “weapons of righteousness” in his right hand and in his left. (See both Scriptures below).

Have your children make their own “weapons of righteousness” that they can use to help perfect their ambidexterity. These could be “swords” representing God’s word, or worship flags.

Make swords by covering cardboard with foil and or duct tape. Worship flags can be made by stapling fabric or ribbons to a cardboard tube or a wooden dowel.

Select a Scripture-based praise song and help your children create a routine that suits the music. Include motions that involve waving their swords or flags in both their right and left hands. Explain that when we praise and worship God, we are fighting on His team.

Have your children practice their routine. After they have become competent, have them perform it for the family.

Other ideas

For a less complex version of this activity, have your children practice a task with their non-dominant hand until they are as accomplished with their non-dominant hand as they are with their dominant hand.

Relevant Scripture

1 Chronicles 12:1-2 “These were the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was banished from the presence of Saul son of Kish (they were among the warriors who helped him in battle; they were armed with bows and were able to shoot arrows or to sling stones right-handed or left-handed; they were kinsmen of Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin)…”

2 Corinthians 6:7 “…in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left…”

Pick a sport or another activity that your children enjoy watching or doing. Perhaps theatre or music will have more appeal to your family. Research opportunities and attend a practice session (or rehearsal) in your community. Talk about the athletes/actors/musicians and ask your children how they think the athletes or performers became so skilled. Later, set aside some time to help your children practice a physical activity they enjoy.

This activity needs to be done in an outdoor area or on a washable surface, as it can get messy.

Begin by passing a raw egg back and forth between two people or around in a circle. Keep backing up and increasing the distance of the toss. The egg may or may not break.

Use this game as an opportunity to talk about how we must treat others with respect. Explain that people are fragile like the egg. Humans don’t have shells, but people can have very sensitive feelings. Treating others with consideration demonstrates respect for their feelings.

The game can also be used as a reminder to care for the family home and possessions and for the things that others own.

Questions for discussion

• How do you feel when someone speaks harshly to you?
• What do people say to hurt the feelings of other people?
• Do you think it makes God sad or mad when people hurt each other?
• Which toy do you enjoy playing with? How would you feel if a friend broke it because they played roughly with it?
• Should we walk on carpets with shoes on? Why or why not?
• Why do we wash our hands after we are finished eating a messy meal?
• Why do we put our things away instead of leaving them lay around the house?
• Why do we knock before entering a closed door?
• Why do we ask before we take food from someone else’s plate?

Relevant Scripture

Genesis 6:5-6 “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that He had made man on earth and His heart was filled with pain.”

Arrange a game of Tug of War. One-on-one games of Tug of War work well if you use a bath towel or short rope. A longer rope or rolled up sheet is needed to play with more children. To play, use a line or a make a mark on the floor or ground to indicate a centre point. Have the competitors stand an equal distance from the centre line, holding the towel or rope. At the cry of “Go!” both teams try to pull the other team across the centre line.

Mix up the teams and play until the children are ready for a break. For the sake of your later discussion, during one of the competitions, join in and help one team, pulling hard enough to help your team win easily.

String licorice can be a fun snack to serve alongside this activity and can be given out as a reward for good sportsmanship.

Questions for discussion

• How did you feel when your team was pulled over the line?
• What happened when I (the parent) helped one side?
• Have you ever experienced a strong pull or desire to do something wrong, even though you knew you shouldn’t?
• Did you know that, in the Bible, Paul described having that same feeling?

Read Romans 7:15, 18-19 and Galatians 5:16-17 (see “relevant Scripture”).

• According to Paul, what is it in us that makes us want to do wrong?
• What can we do about our sinful nature?

Read Galatians 5:22-26.

• How will we act when God’s Spirit is controlling our lives?
• Who can help you say no to sin?

Key concepts

Sometimes, even though we know the right choice to make, we still choose to sin. As disappointing and discouraging as this is, we can be encouraged knowing that Paul, one of the greatest missionaries who ever served God, had the same problem.

Paul experienced a tug of war with sin and he wrote about how we can win in the war against sin. Paul discovered that the solution is to “live by the Spirit.” By this he means asking God to give you His desires in place of the sinful desires that we are all born with.

The best news is that because Jesus was tempted as Paul was – and as you and I are – Jesus knows how to help us stay strong against temptation if we pray and ask Him to win the “tug of war” for us. The power of the Holy Spirit is a bit like having the adult pulling on one side of the Tug of War rope. There was absolutely no way the other team had a chance when the adult pulled. In the same way, Satan doesn’t stand a chance against the power of God.

Relevant Scripture

Romans 7:15, 18-19 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. …I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.”

Galatians 5:16-17 “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.”

Galatians 5:22-26 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”

Hebrews 2:18 “Because He himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.”