October 28

What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? Psalms 116:12.

Whatever we are exhorted and admonished to do in our Christian calling, we should do nothing for the sake of gain or reward. Gratitude should prompt us. The mercies of God should induce us to do those things which are required of us. What great mercy has God shown us! Daily He provides for all our bodily needs. And can any language in the world describe His mercy in the great work of our redemption? Has not God's mercy and love been so great that He gave His only-begotten Son, who bled and died on the cross for our sins and gained for us all eternal life? And did He not bestow upon us the treasures of His redemption in Holy Baptism? And then behold that wonderful gift Christ gives us in the Sacrament of the Altar, His body and His blood, the best there is in heaven and earth, Himself, with all the riches of His grace: forgiveness of sin, spiritual life, and eternal salvation. Could He do more to impress upon us all His divine grace and unspeakable love? How can we ever sufficiently thank Him for that? What shall we render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward us? St. John answers: "We love Him because He first

loved us." The psalmist answers: "I will run the way of Thy commandments when Thou shalt enlarge my heart." Paul wrote to the Romans: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

Faith creates love. At the Lord's Table our faith has been strengthened, and that also strengthens and increases our love toward God and our neighbor. We come away with the earnest desire to follow Christ in the beauty of holiness, zealous unto good works, that we may be conformed to Him more and more and all our doing and life may please Him. John 14:15 Jesus says: "If ye love Me, keep My commandments." And He who loves us and demands our love in return also wants us to love our neighbor. St. John says: "And this commandment have we from Him, that he who loveth God love his brother also."

Prayer.

O Lord Jesus, I rejoice in being privileged, because of Thy great goodness, together with my fellow-Christians, to go to Thy house and to partake of Thy body and blood in, with, and under the consecrated bread and wine. Oh, how my soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord and His altar! As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, my Redeemer. For Thou art my Shepherd; I shall not want. O Lord Jesus, even as Thou hast begun the good work in me, a poor wretched sinner, so also mercifully perform it, by the gracious aid of Thy Holy Spirit, unto Thy honor and the welfare of my soul. Amen.

Thou, who feedest us below, Source of all we have or know, Grant that with Thy saints above We may share Thy feast of love!