Last Thanksgiving, my nephew introduced me to YouTube dog and cat videos. My two favorites were “The Sad Dog Diaries” and “The Sad Cat Diaries”. In each, the dog ‘s or cat’s thoughts are narrated by a sad sounding but eloquent man. These are pretty funny. But what made me laugh most was how the dog and cat described their owner. For the dog it was “my dearest human”. For the cat it was “the authorities”. It reminded me of an old joke.

A dog looks at its owner and thinks:

You feed me. You shelter me. You love me. You must be God.

The cat, on the other hand, looks at its owner and thinks:

You feed me. You shelter me. You love me. I must be God.

What is not in the “diaries”, or in the joke, is the owner’s point of view. What does the owner want from Fido or Tabby? Love. Loyalty. A bit of obedience. Gratitude. The problem with dogs and cats is that both need to be taught how to act appropriately in response to the owner’s feeding, sheltering and loving. People are no different. and might be worse. We have to be taught how to express gratitude. How do we express gratitude to God who feeds us, shelters us and loves us? That was something Paul had to teach the Roman Christians. He did it in his Letter to the Romans. The lesson is for us, too. Come hear about it Sunday, October 6 at 8:30 and 11 when Pastor Jeff preaches, “God Does Not Want Your Money, God Want’s Your Worship”. We look forward to seeing you.