THANKS A LOT!

A shopper on "Black Friday" (the day after Thanksgiving) needed a break. She'd found many specials and could hardly carry them all. She went to the Food Court, bought herself a little bag of cookies and a cup of coffee, and sat down at one of the crowded tables to sip her coffee quietly. Across the table a man was reading a newspaper. After a moment she reached out and took a cookie. As she did, the man seated across the table reached out and took one, too. She was a bit startled, but she did not say anything. A few moments later she took another cookie. Once again the man took a cookie. She was getting a bit uneasy at him eating her cookies but did not say anything.

After another sip of coffee she took another cookie, and so did the man again! Now she was a bit upset, especially since there was only one cookie was left. The man also saw the one cookie left, and before she could say anything, he broke it in half, offered half to her, and proceeded to eat the other half himself as he walked away. She glared at him and left the table. "What a jerk!" she thought, "Some men think they're so smart!" She picked up her purse, and underneath it discovered her own cookies in their unopened bag. She'd been eating his cookies the whole time!

I like that story - it is rather like how we treat God when He provides us with so much, and we think it's all ours. How often don't we act as if we own everything, and that it's all purely because of our efforts? Perhaps we ought to memorize the words the Old Testament reading: "When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land He has given you." (Deuteronomy 8:10)

It's human nature to believe that all we have is ours, and that it comes through our own efforts. Deuteronomy 8 reminds us all we have is from God, things we may work to get, but nonetheless things that come to us from God's gracious hand. Every National Day of Thanksgiving is meant to show us it is God who gives us what we have. A line in a contemporary song says, "Thanks a lot! Thanks a lot! Thanks for all I've got!" We've all got "a lot," and I hope we'll all remember where it came from.

I'll be leading Thanksgiving Eve services tomorrow ( Weds, 4 & 7 PM if you're in the area) here at Trinity Lutheran in Casa Grande, Arizona, under the worship theme, "Count Your Blessings." It will be interesting to see how full the pews will be. There are so many winter residents here and being retired they are just so busy!

May God give us grateful hearts this Thanksgiving and always!