First things first men. How much time are you spending with your kids? Doing life with them, having fun, teaching them whats important and leaving a legacy? If you spend quality of time with your kids, awesome. If you don’t, you need to get your head out of your @$$ and start.

For most men we have our sights set on stuff such as; a house (and a vacation home), car, boat, money, climbing the corporate ladder, fill in the blank ________. Most of us don’t leave much room for things that really matter and our values become our kids values.

Ok guys, here’s a test. You’re walking on the beach and a genie bottle washed up onto the shore. Of course all your senses tell you it’s not real, but you rub the lamp anyways out of curiosity and out pops a genie. Here’s the catch…instead of three wishes, the genie only gives you one wish.

What do you wish for?

Of course there’s no such thing as a genie but we all have thought about what we would wish for if they existed and we found one. Whether its daydreaming about a genie’s three wishes or winning the lottery, we all hope one day that this will happens to us, don’t we. We all compile a list of things in our head and ranking them in order of what we want most, don’t we.

Well excluding the few that win the lottery, there was a man who was given one wish and that man was Solomon. When Solomon took over as the King of Israel from his father David, God appeared to him in a dream and gave him that one wish. In 1 Kings chapter 3 we read, Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.”

Ever been just a little bit jealous of King Solomon? I have.

Ok back to the story. Does Solomon ask for some material item from his list? Nope — he asks God for wisdom to lead the nation. Wait a minute, what?!? You get one wish from God and that’s what he asked for? Would you ask for that? Well lets see what God does. God was so pleased with Solomon’s response that He gave him the wisdom and discernment he asked for. Oh wait, it gets better. Solomon’s answer was so good that God also gave him everything else he DIDN’T ask for: wealth, long life, the death of his enemies, etc.

Not sure how old Solomon was when he took over for his dad, but how many people do you know, given a blank check for anything they want, cash it in for wisdom?

Ever wonder how Solomon knew to ask for wisdom? We may find some answers in 1 Chronicles 22:12 where we find King David on his death bed death. David calls for his son Solomon to his bedside and speaks these words of life over him, “…may the Lord grant you discretion and understanding, that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the Lord your God. Then you will prosper if you are careful to observe the statutes and the rules that the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Fear not; do not be dismayed.” David didn’t pray for his son to have wealth, long life or reprieve from his enemies. He prayed that he would have wisdom. And when Solomon was given a chance to ask for whatever he wanted, he knew what what was most important because of the words his dad had spoken over him and so he asked for wisdom. I wonder what Solomon would have asked for had David not spoken these words of life over his son?

Men, this serves as a great reminder to speak words of life and meaning into our kids. So start today and speak the words of life you want to see in your kids.

I don’t think we as dads fully comprehend the amount of life-changing power (good or bad) we have when it comes to speaking into the lives of our kids. Men, we are a powerful force in the lives of our kids and with that comes great responsibility and accountability. Men, we have be intentional to speak words of life and encouragement and empowerment into our kids. Men, we have to be intentional in bridling our tongues to avoid speaking destructive words that will haunt them for their entire life. George R.R. Martin, the author of Game of Thrones, shares this powerful quote, “Words are like arrows…once loosed, you cannot call them back.”

After my big wake up call from chasing the wind, I have been more intentional about speaking words of life to my kids.

Some of the words that I speak to my kids are: integrity, courage, compassion, vision, etc. I also pray over my kids daily and ask God for the right words of life for each of them. By doing this, every day they will be reminded of what I see in them and who God created them to be. So speak life men!

We pursue these things from “our list” mostly for validation and we don’t seem to look for it from God! I may never have the stuff on “my list”, but if my kids grow up with their identity secure in Jesus Christ — I’ll take that over that stuff any day! How about you?