Do you ever

just want to praise God? Just praise Him.

While down

on your knees, driving down the road, taking a walk, in

the middle of a work day, do you ever just want to praise

Him?

Without

asking for a thing, without talking about everything

that's bothering you, without going into details about

anything concerning you and yours, do you ever just want

to praise Him for who He is?

It's hard

to do, isn't it? Oh, it's easy to want to do it, just

hard to do it, don't you think?

Why do you

suppose that is the case? Of course, I'm assuming at this

point that you agree with me that it's hard to just

praise God.

Think about

it. Take yourself back to childhood. Pick an age, any

age. I think I'll go for 11 years old. Now, allow

yourself to recall a time that you just wanted to talk to

your parent about how wonderful he or she was. Oops...

Never happened, huh?

Why do you

suppose that is? Maybe it's because, when we do the

ritualistic Mother's Day or Father's Day thing, we think

we have done all we need to do in order to express the

way we feel about a parent. After all, they know we love

them and appreciate them and are aware of all they do for

us.

Do they?

But we are

talking God here. Right? Certainly God knows how we feel

about all He is and all He does for us. After all, He

knows everything.

Okay, let's

explore this a bit more.

Let's say

you have worked on a project at work or school for oh,

three months, maybe. Poured your heart into it. Did the

best you could. And you've come up with some pretty good

end results.

The time

comes for you to turn in your project. Your teacher or

boss says, "Put it over there," pointing to a

small space on a crowded desk.

You lay

three months of blood, sweat and tears on the allotted

spot and out you go into the world to tackle the next

project.

So?

It was your

duty. You were given an assignment. You will get a grade

or paycheck. What can one expect?

Not much in

this day and age. We are all too busy to give thanks and

praise, aren't we?

But imagine

for a moment how you would have felt if your boss or

teacher reached out their hand and accepted the project

from your hand. Then, right there in front of you, the

one who will appraise your work opens the pages, or

sticks the disk in the computer, and brings your work up

on the screen. He or she gazes long, reads intently,

smiles, grimaces, and finally comments.

There might

be this thing or that thing that he or she would like to

have seen as part of the end results, but, over all, they

are delighted with what you have accomplished. Then comes

the "atta boy, or girl." A firm handshake.

Maybe a real pat on the back. A word of praise...

And you

walk out feeling like a million dollars.

Am I

assuming that God has feelings like you and me? Maybe.

Would I

have the courage to approach the throne of God and point

out to Him how I would have done things a bit

differently, but, overall, I think He's doing a pretty

good job? I shudder as I type these words knowing I've

done that more than once. How He has managed to keep His

cool and not write me off over the years, I'll never know

this side of eternity.

I expect

it's all because of Jesus. I can hear Him now, "But

Father, I've been there. I know what she's going through.

It's hard. Give her a break. Let's help her out

again..."

And again.

And again. And again... Not just at Easter, but all the

time, everyday, we should thank God for Calvary, and

praise Him for His goodness, mercy, and everlasting

kindness to us. AND, whenever we can crawl out of own

skins long enough, we ought to just praise Him for who He

is.