Can I be totally honest with you? I struggle with Father's Day. It's not the holiday per se that bothers me, it's the challenge it presents me as a pastor. 

I used to think Father's Day was a male version of Mother's Day, but it's not. Traditionally, Mother's Day is a time to recognize the virtue of motherhood, pass out a rose or two and get sentimental about our own great mothers. Usually we take Mom out to lunch and try to make it "her" day. 

I usually don't know what I should preach on Father's Day. Do I preach the "Choose you this day who you will serve" sermon, or do I go with "Dads, you're not spending enough time with the kids" approach? Both classic approaches seem, well, negative.

I feel an unspoken pressure to "exact a pound of flesh" on Father's Day. You know, like the wives expect me to "whip their husbands into shape." Honestly, has there ever been a child that thought their Dad spent enough time with them? Has there ever been a wife that didn't think their husband worked too many hours?

What would happen if I treated women on Mother's Day like we preachers usually treat men on Father's Day? I probably would get a rather cool reception.

Since I'm being honest with you, let me just put it all out in the open. Yeah, there are some guys out there that are real jerks and neglect their families, but men don't have a monopoly on that. 

Most of the men I know are doing the best they can. They work hard to provide for their families, both financially and spiritually. In fact, I think they are worthy of a good old fashioned pat on the back. I think we should have a special day for them and tell them how much we appreciate them. We could buy them a tie or something and tell them we love them. I know, we could do it six weeks after Mother's Day and we could call it Father's Day. Hey, maybe this holiday isn't that difficult after all.
 

Read Parenting by Pager, the sermon that corresponds to this devotional.