the Awesome Highlighter

Suppose this December when it's thirty-one years, I come home with thirty-one, long stem, red roses somehow held behind my back and ring the doorbell, which I never do. Noël, my wife, comes to the door, looks at me and asks, "Why did you do that?"

And I pull these out and say, "Happy Anniversary, Noël." She says, "Oh, Johnny, they are beautiful! Why did you?" And I say, "It's my duty."

What's wrong with that answer? It's a true answer. What's wrong with it? It's a profoundly defective answer. Why? What's wrong with duty? We want to extol duty. There is something wrong here.

Let me replay the tape and give you the right answer.

Ding-dong. "Happy anniversary, Noël."

"Oh, Johnny, they are beautiful! Why did you?"

"I couldn't help myself. Nothing makes me happier than to buy roses for you. And by the way, I've got a babysitter. Why don't you go change clothes because we are going out tonight. There is nothing I'd rather do than spend the evening with you."

Not in a million years would she ever say, "Nothing you'd rather do! Why don't you think about me sometime?"

Why? Why doesn't she accuse me of self-centered, Christian hedonism at that moment? Your whole laughter, your whole heart right now knows the answer. You don't need me to explain, but I will put it in a sentence.You know that when I express delight in her wanting to spend the evening with her, I magnify her. I extol her. I lift her up. I honor her. That's what worship is.   remove