Well I am this is my favorite time of the year. I really love Thanksgiving. I have to remind

myself every year that taking a day off from work and overeating does not make me

thankful.

Then I'll have to remind myself of that again this year.

But I have a question, what does make one thankful?

I was reading a couple of weeks ago in Luke Chapter 7 and there was a horribly

immoral woman who had had an encounter with Jesus and he changed her life and her response was that

she washed his feet with her tears and poured very expensive perfume on his feet.

Now I'd say she was thankful, wouldn't you?

Jesus' takeaway was this.

She loved much. She loved much. She loved much. It's the only time I can find in all of

scripture where Jesus said somebody loved him. But then he went on to say this, but he who has been forgiven little

loves little. I think our Thanksgiving is always a matter of the awareness that we have of the depth of how much we've been forgiven.

It's where love comes from.

It depends on how much we are aware of how much we've been forgiven.

So how aware are you of how much Jesus loves you?

When I was in seminary, a man that I deeply respected gave me some advice that I've never forgotten.

He said, Marcus, throughout all the days of your life,

you should make a habit out of reading the writings of people who've been dead for a long,

long time. And I've never forgotten that and so for for most of my adult life now

I have I have read the writings of people who wrote many many many years ago one

book that I came across was by a guy named Bernard of

...