Dear Readers,
Thanksgiving is quickly approaching. Over the next few weeks we will be talking about various facets of Thanksgiving. I trust what God has written will bless, challenge and encourage you.
Simple Yet Powerful!
Thank you.These are two very simple, yet powerful words. When spoken, they evoke within the heart of the one receiving the gratitude a feeling of warmth, love, and tenderness toward the one expressing their thankfulness. Both our girls have always had a spirit of gratitude for the things they received. Each expressed it differently, but both let us know in their own way that they appreciated what had been sacrificed in order for them to receive the gift. Our younger daughter, Kelly, was very sensitive and showed appreciation immediately when given a gift or an item purchased specifically for her. I believe if we had given her a half of a stick of gum, she would have thanked us. Over the years, often sales clerks would comment about the way she expressed her appreciation when I purchased something for her. When our girls showed and expressed appreciation, it made us want to do more for them. But, if they had exhibited a spirit of entitlement or ingratitude, we would have responded much differently.
Let’s look at Luke 17:11-19, where we see the story told by Luke of the ten men with leprosy and their encounter with Jesus. “It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance but raised their voices, calling out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! Taking a good look at them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests. They went, and while still on their way, became clean. One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. He kneeled at Jesus’ feet, so grateful. He couldn’t thank him enough—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus said, “Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?” Then he said to him, “Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you.” The Message Bible
Jesus healed all ten, yet only one returned and fell on his face expressing his thankfulness for being healed of leprosy. I love the way the Message Bible expresses his gratitude. “He couldn’t thank him enough.” We see that he was a “foreigner,” a Samaritan, a race despised by the Jews as idolatrous half-breeds. In these verses, Luke is pointing out God’s grace in healing him. Jesus, being filled with grace, saw the Samaritan man as a man in need and certainly equally worthy of being healed.
Jesus healed all ten lepers, but only one returned to thank him. Is it possible to receive God’s greatest gifts with an ungrateful spirit? Nine out of ten did so. Only the thankful man, however, learned that his faith had played a role in his healing; and only grateful Christians grow in understanding God’s grace. God does not demand that we thank him, but he is pleased when we do so. And he uses our responsiveness to teach us more about himself. NLT Parallel Study Bible
Once the man was healed, he realized the presence and power of the One who healed him and his heart was filled with gratitude. Thank you. These two simple, yet powerful words can be spoken in one second of time, yet the effect they have can last for a lifetime. When genuinely spoken, they will always help, and never hinder or hurt. Saying thank you or showing gratitude is a small investment that produces great returns. One out of ten of the lepers returned to show his gratitude and say thank you to Jesus for healing him. It does not say exactly what happened to the other nine, but we get the sense from reading that because this one man returned to Jesus, fell at his feet and thanked him for his healing, he was completely healed physically and spiritually.
The Parallel Study Bible says, God does not demand that we thank him, but he is pleased when we do so. Jesus did not demand a thank you for healing the ten lepers. But, he was pleased with the heart of gratefulness expressed by the one. Mark and I did not demand that our girls thank us, but we were certainly pleased when they did!
When it comes to the blessings of God in your life, do you have a heart of gratefulness? Have you run to Him, fallen at his feet and shouted thank you? Would those closest to you say what was said of the one leper, “He (she) couldn’t thank Him enough?” God does not demand our gratefulness, but He is pleased when He hears from your lips and mine, “Thank you! Thank you, Lord!”
dianne