As many of you know, there are a number of books from the New Testament era that never made it into the Bible. Some were discounted because they were deemed to be inauthentic and therefore unreliable. Others were dismissed because their message was not consistent with the Christian gospel. Still others fell into disfavor, because, frankly, they never found much of an audience in the early church.

Contrary to what conspiracy theorists would have you believe, these so-called “lost” books do not contain any dark, disturbing secrets about Jesus’ life. However, a few of them do contain alternative versions of some of his parables.

In the Gospel of Thomas, for example, when Jesus tells the story of the shepherd who left ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness, in order to seek the one that had wandered away, we actually get a description of the “lost sheep.” It was the “fattest” and “most-prized” of his flock—thus, providing at least a rationale for the shepherd’s desperate search.

Or to cite another example, in the alternative version of the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, we are told that those who were hired late in the afternoon worked harder than all of the others, and it so impressed the vineyard owner that he decided to award them with a full day’s wages!

This puts a different spin on the story, to be sure. In fact, some of us might actually prefer that version over the original, because it makes more sense. But unfortunately, it also misses what I think Jesus was trying to teach us—namely, that God dispenses gifts, not wages.

Put another way, when the twelve-hour workers look at what the one-hour workers receive, and start complaining, “This is not fair. Those people are not getting what they deserve”—the workers are absolutely right. It’s not what they deserve … and that’s the point! None of us get what we really deserve; otherwise we would be in a whole heap of trouble.

This Thanksgiving many of us will sit at bountiful tables, eating as much as we like (and probably a bit more than we should). We will relax in warm, spacious homes and enjoy the company of family and friends. And at some point during the day, we will pause to count our blessings.

If you decide to start by enumerating those blessings that you think you deserve, it’s likely to be a pretty short list—because, frankly, we don’t deserve any of it. In fact, when it comes to God’s blessings, the word “deserve” does not even apply!