On his 12th birthday a boy looked for his Dad’s present at the table.  He sorted them all and found none.  His mind couldn’t believe that Dad would forget him.  So he began to open all the presents.  The party ended with joy for all who were there.  But the nagging thought was, “Where’s my present from Dad?” 

As all the guests left, no one seemed to notice the absence of Dad’s gift.  And the boy watched as Dad walked over to his favorite chair and sat down.  Dad reached for a book and started to read.  Knowing that Dad loved him, the boy walked over to his hero and asked, “Have I done something wrong?”  Dad looked up with a smile and said, “No, of course not.  I love you and think you’re an awesome kid”.

Dad instructed his son to sit down next to him.  After the boy had sat down Dad handed him the book.  “Engines for Dummies” was the title.  Needless to say, the boy was confused.  But Dad patted him on the shoulder and got up.  “Come on, I got something for you”.  They both walked out to the garage.  There on a stand was a V8 engine.  Filthy, was the only word that came to the boy’s mind.  But right beside the engine was a gleaming red tool box.  “This is your project”, Dad whispered to his son.  The boy just looked up at him with a blank stare.  “What am I gonna do with this?”, the boy asked with a slight quiver in his voice.  “You’re going to rebuild it”, replied Dad.  “Let’s get started”.  Open the middle drawer of the tool box and get the brush.  The boy was dazed by the “gift”, but he obeyed.  After about an hour of spraying, scrubbing, wiping, and sweat, the engine looked a whole lot better.  But the confusion wasn’t gone. 

8 weeks later the engine sat gleaming brighter than the tool box.  The boy had learned everything he ever needed to know about how to rebuild a V8 engine.  The boy’s obedience and love for his Dad was met, during those 8 weeks, by a surprising amount of knowledge, patience, and tenderness from his Dad.  Dad stood and stared at the wonderful transformation and smiled.  The boy was proud of his accomplishment.  Yet he knew he wouldn’t have even thought of starting the project.  Everything had been done together.  And the boy knew that he had only been Dad’s hands.

“It’s beautiful”, Dad said.  “Oh Yea!”,  was the reply.  The boy wondered what they were going to do with it next.  He was only 12.  What was he going to do with a V8 engine?  Dad brough out the camera and snapped a ton of pictures.  Some engine, some boy, some together faces in front of the engine, snap snap snap.  After a brief celebration the boy asked, “What are we gonna do with it Dad?”  Dad’s answer was a bit hard to take at first.  “We’re going to give it to that family with the broke down station wagon down the street.  They don’t have a car that runs.  And we’ll help them put it in.”

Both joy and sadness filled the boy as he pondered those words.  All that work.  All that sweat.  All that………..  “Sounds great Dad”, was the boy’s words.  They didn’t reflect what he was thinking.  But he knew it was a good thing to do.  Four days later the engine was pulling a family around where ever they wanted to go.

What’s the purpose of this story?  When God works a work in you, do you really think it’s for you?  And when it’s completed, do you really think you did it all yourself?  And when God tells you to give all glory to Him, do you think He’s joking?  And when He tells you to give it away as though you never had a part in that work, what will be your response?  All Glory will belong to the Father through Jesus His Son.

By His Grace.