Day 18 ~ Gracious LORD* (Psalms 116:5)

                                                                 The Cookie Thief
                                                                    by Valerie Cox

A woman was waiting at an airport one night,                          He offered her half, as he ate the other,
With several long hours before her flight.                                 She snatched it from him and thought... oooh, brother.
She hunted for a book in the airport shops.                              This guy has some nerve and he's also rude,
Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.                 Why he didn't even show any gratitude!

She was engrossed in her book but happened to see,                She had never known when she had been so galled,
That the man sitting beside her, as bold as could be.                And sighed with relief when her flight was called.
Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag in between,                   She gathered her belongings and headed to the gate,
Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene.                               Refusing to look back at the thieving ingrate.

So she munched the cookies and watched the clock,                She boarded the plane, and sank in her seat,
As the gutsy cookie thief diminished her stock.                        Then she sought her book, which was almost complete.
she was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,            As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise,
Thinking, "If I wasn't so nice, I would blacken his eye."           There was her bag of cookies, in front of her eyes.

With each cookie she took, he took one too,                             If mine are here, she moaned in despair,
When only one was left, she wondered what he would do.        The others were his, and he tried to share.
With a smile on his face, and a nervous laugh,                           Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,
He took the last cookie and broke it in half.                              That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief.

~~~~
How many times in our lives, have we absolutely known that something was a certain way, only to discover later that what we believed to be true ... was not? It truly is amazing how so many of us have a tendency to miss God's blessings in our lives for what they are. It is so easy to overlook His gifts and blessings and think that what we have is through our own efforts and works
Grace is a sweet word. We don't use it enough. In theology it means "the free and unmerited favor or beneficence of God." Grace is salvation in that when "we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Grace is help in our helplessness, the divine helping hand "for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Grace is a constant friend in time of need. Grace is a song in the heart. Grace is the outpouring of blessings in spite of the smallness of reciprocation.

There was a little boy who went to see the Master teach. One of the Master's disciples found him and noticed that the boy had some food with him. He asked if the boy would part with his food. The boy would have been reluctant. Five Barley loaves and two fishes was all he had. But he gave to the Master. And miraculously the multitude of five thousand was fed. Then the leftovers were taken up. Twelve full baskets were collected. Usually we think of the twelve baskets as going with the twelve disciples. But I think it is more likely that most of it went back to the lad who had so generously given. For the grace of God is such that when we give we receive back in "good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over" (Luke 6:38)

Grace falls down like rain upon us. We should be like children out dancing in it. But strangely many put up their umbrellas. How beautiful and grateful we would be if instead we set out buckets.

* Though in English the Psalm reads "Gracious is the LORD", the "is the" is not in the original text. The verse actually reads "Gracious Jehovah.".