He may be your emperor - but he is my father!

(J.C. Pittman, "Bible Truths Illustrated" 1917)

A Roman emperor, after a successful military campaign, was returning in triumph to Rome. Great throngs filled the city to welcome the mighty hero. While passing through one of the crowded thoroughfares, a little girl, wild with joy, dashed toward his chariot.

The officer stopped her and said: "That is the chariot of the emperor, and you must not attempt to reach him."

The little one replied: "He may be your emperor - but he is my father!" In a moment she was not only in the chariot, but also in the arms of her father.

It is even so with true believers. While God is the Emperor of all men - He is that, and infinitely more, to us - He is our Father!

"This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in Heaven . . ." Matthew 6:9