Maybe you already know the story of the Little Red Hen. If not, this quick summary may jog a memory from the day your kindergarten teacher read you the story. The Little Red Hen is an old folk tale meant to teach children that laziness doesn’t pay off in the end. Here’s my short version of the tale:

The Little Red Hen was pecking around the yard and discovered some wheat seeds. You might assume, since she was a chicken after all, that she would have immediately gobbled up those tasty seeds. But no. This little hen was smart and knew the potential in those tiny seeds, so she swept them up with her feathered wings and carried them home thinking, “One day I’ll eat baked bread!”

Little Red Hen knew that yummy bread comes only after much hard work, so she went to ask her friends, Lazy Dog, Sleepy Cat, and Noisy Duck, to help her. Initially she simply asked “Who will help me plant the seeds?” But in the coming weeks and months she asked which of them would help her water, harvest, grind the wheat seeds and finally bake the bread. But each time the Little Red Hen’s friends’ answers were the same:

“Not I” yawned Lazy Dog.

“Not I” purred Sleepy Cat.

“Not I” quacked Noisy Duck.

And each time, her response to her lazy friend’s answers was “Fine! I’ll do it myself!”

Well, by now you may be remembering how the rest of this delightful tale unfolds. The moment came when Little Red Hen pulled the warm bread from the oven, and as it cooled, the wonderful aroma wafted through the entire barnyard.  The hen’s lazy friends followed the smell to her kitchen and actually had the nerve to sit down at her table, more than willing to enjoy the feast with her! 

Before cutting the bread, Little Red Hen decided to ask her friends one more question. “Who will help me eat this bread?” Naturally, their answers changed.

“I” barked Lazy Dog happily.

“I” meowed Sleepy Cat hungrily.

“I” quacked Noisy Duck, eagerly hopping from his chair to the table.

And that was the moment when Little Red Hen’s grace and mercy flew out her kitchen window as she gave them a piece of her mind: “Ha! After I did every bit of work from planting these seeds to baking the bread, you think you’re going to get one bite of it? Not on your lazy lives! If you want to eat, go get your own food!” (Ouch!)

This morning as I thought about Thanksgiving, I guessed that likely there are many people for whom true thankfulness doesn’t come naturally. Down deep inside they may have Little Red Hen mindsets. “I made sacrifices so that I could be where I am today.” “I worked hard for this.” “I did the research.” “I invested my time and energy to reach this level of success.” “I…I…I…” To these, their daily bread is clearly evidence of their own hard work.

But I believe that for most of us, even those of us who sometimes need gentle reminders, it’s not hard to find things to be thankful for. We realize the loving relationships we have with friends or family, the food we eat, the shelter we have, the health we enjoy, the strength to work, the finances to cover our needs—indeed these are evidence, evidence of God’s blessing in our lives. Our very breath comes only by God’s grace. True thankfulness begins with a humble heart.

King David was that way. After years of acquiring gold and silver as the King of Israel, David gave an extravagant offering to be used to build God’s temple. He donated 112 tons of gold and 262 tons of silver! Then he encouraged the people to add what they could, and they joyfully and extravagantly did so. 

With all of this wealth, you would think that King David would have felt like he and his people should have their names inscribed on gold plaques and hung on the wall in an elaborate Hall of Benefactors. But he didn’t. He was humble enough to know he wouldn’t have a single nail to donate to the building project if it weren’t for God. Scripture says, “(David said) O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name! But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! … “O LORD our God, even this material we have gathered to build a Temple to honor your holy name comes from you! It all belongs to you! … Then David said to the whole assembly, “Give praise to the LORD your God!” And the entire assembly praised the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and they bowed low and knelt before the LORD and the king. 1 Chronicles 29:13-14, 16, 20

Father God, thank You for all the many blessings that You provide for us day after day. Though we are able to look and see what we have accomplished, grant us the humility to acknowledge that even these come only through Your grace. Every good and perfect gift comes from You. Make us more and more aware of Your blessings, so that by Thanksgiving, not one home has a Little Red Hen! We love You and thank You for every blessing. Amen