Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

I was thinking the other day that, going into this Thanksgiving holiday many people talk about being thankful. We often emphasize, and rightfully so, the necessity of taking an assessment of the blessings of our lives and developing a heart of gratitude. We ask the question, “For what are you thankful?”   What is missing, however, is the object of their gratitude.   We fail to ask, “To whom are you thankful?” Thus, our gratitude is sometimes misdirected or not directed towards anyone at all! I picture it this way:   If I give my child a gift, I would expect some sort of expression of gratitude—at least a, “thanks, Dad!”   If they would go and thank other people for the gift I have given them, I’d feel as if something was wrong. The same would be true if they simply said, “I’m so thankful,” yet never express any sort of gratitude towards me personally.   All of that to say, to whom is your gratitude directed?   I’m afraid that too often we are thank...

The home we recently moved into is on “Applebey Street.”   And believe it or not, we have two apple trees on the property.   (I guess it only makes sense!)   At first we thought that they were crab apples, which are inedible. But after moving in and seeing the apples grow, we realized that these apples are “real” apples—that they are actually edible apples.   The problem is, however, most of what appear to be the good apples have all been out of our reach.   They are at the higher parts of the tree beyond where I can reach, even with a ladder.   Eventually, the apples fall off the tree and become food for the deer that live nearby, rather than for us. But, here is what we have found. Most of the apples that have fallen are really not all that attractive once we see them up close. Most of them are somewhat diseased or have insects or are just very, very ugly and hard.   The apples that were once beyond our reach and so tempting, no longer have the ...