This is not me, by the way. Just some other guy who thinks he is the king.

I woke up this morning realizing I had forgotten to thank my kids for their Father’s Day gift to me, which was to purchase and prepare last night’s dinner, and make pretty much of a fuss over me in general. I didn’t have to lift a finger. It wasn’t always easy not to. Anne made an incredible guacamole and Christopher cooked burgers on the grill. But for the “Grill King” to have nothing to do with the grill took more than a little restraint. I must admit, however, that once I resigned myself to doing nothing, I found it a rather pleasant experience.

I’m used to funding my own celebrations like my birthdays and Father’s Day. That’s what Dad’s do. And if I were better at giving, this would be my joy, but I’m more likely to be thinking that the gift I really want would be to not have to create a fuss over my own celebration!

I got to thinking about this later on and realized that God always funds his own celebrations, that is, there isn’t a thing we can bring him that didn’t come from him, including ourselves, and yet scripture teaches us that he is pleased with the praises of his people. There is something in the thinking of it and the doing of it that brings him pleasure. I think I understand that better after last night.

And speaking of Grill King, guess how much better he can do anything that we could bring him, the King of all Kings and Lord of Lords? It must require a great deal of restraint for him to sit back and appreciated our feeble offerings.

Could I have done a better hamburger than the one my son cooked for me last night? If I could, it still wouldn’t have tasted as good as the one I had.

“But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.” (Psalm 22:3)