Father's Day is just around the corner. That means that this weekend there will be many young children who are going to get their father a gift. It's a wonderful thought, and both the father and child will most likely enjoy it. It's not unlikely that some kid will ask his father for five dollars or so to buy a gift of some kind. Excited, the child will pick out whatever small item they think their father would enjoy and gleefully give it to him. The father will enjoy the gift, and the thought behind it, but very few will do so because they actually think they profited five bucks. The money was theirs to give in the first place and as such was always really theirs.
In much the same way, we give gifts to our heavenly Father. We gleefully use what He has given us and wish to present something to Him. Just as gladly, He receives it, not because He profits out of our giving or generosity, but because of the spirit of giving that comes with it. This is why the Scriptures say, "the Lord loves a cheerful giver." It isn't the gift God is worried about, it is why, how, and who of the matter that He is concerned with. This is also why Jesus says that the poor woman had given far more to God than the rich had. God view us as His children in many ways, some we like and some make us feel rather childish, ironically. His view of gifts is not based on the value others put on the gift, but instead on how much dedication, personal sacrifice, or thought and caring was in that gift instead.
So this Father's Day, let us honor our earthly fathers, as the Law commands. But let us do so in a way that also honors our heavenly Father. Let us give of ourselves to Him, both in word and in deed.
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