GRATITUDE
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice. “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. ONE OF THEM, WHEN HE SAW HE WAS HEALED, CAME BACK, PRAISING GOD IN A LOUD VOICE. HE THREW HIMSELF AT JESUS’ FEET AND THANKED HIM—AND HE WAS A SAMARITAN. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Luke 17:11-19NIV
As we grow in faith and in our businesses or careers, we mustn’t get to that place of taking God for granted. Somehow, we often don’t consider the many blessings in our lives anymore as something to thank God for. The same was true of the passage above, the Jews who were blessed with healing didn’t consider a need to thank the Lord for what he did for them, only one person came back to thank the Lord. You know what, Jesus noted it and that one person received what others didn’t get. Three basic lessons we can learn from this passage are as follows:
- Ingratitude is very distasteful!
- Jesus noted that one fellow that came back to give thanks. A heart of gratitude is a heart of Gold –even the Lord seeks and appreciates it. A ratio of one to ten isn’t that good and that hasn’t changed today. Do you know only a few of us testifies of God’s goodness to us?
- When you thank God for his fingers, you will see his hands. God loves people who appreciates him and his gifts. He keeps blessing them because he loves the way they respond to the blessings.
As with God, men appreciates a grateful heart because we were created in God’s image. Please learn to remember gracious acts done towards you and be grateful for such. For example, genuinely love and honour those who affectionately watch and labour over you to be a better person.
Take time out to think on those who have been there for you all along–especially in 2018. Do something from your heart that truly reveals how grateful you are.
