“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Do you remember the story of the 10 individuals who were healed of leprosy? All ten cried out for Jesus to heal them and Jesus did – all of them were healed. But do you remember what happened next?
“One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.” Luke 17:15-16
Only one of the healed individuals came back to thank Jesus for what He had done… only one. And he didn’t just come back to quietly thank Jesus for what He had done, no, this guy came back ‘shouting’ his thanks to Jesus, even falling at Jesus’ feet in absolute gratitude. And how does Jesus respond to this display of gratitude?
Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?” Luke 17:17
It would seem that Jesus is a bit taken back, even surprised by the ingratitude of the nine. Ten lives were changed but only one acknowledged the One who changed their life. Only one came back to say ‘thank you’ for the work that Jesus accomplished. How is that possible?
If gratitude is not present in the day-to-day, it won’t magically appear… even in the ‘big’ moments of life. Gratitude is a posture of the heart and if the heart is not postured (or positioned) towards gratitude in all things neither will it be in the obvious things.
I’m growing in gratitude. I’ve not arrived, but I’m growing. And what’s helping me cultivate gratitude within my heart is learning to say ‘thank you’ to God throughout the day. I’m losing the categories of ‘big’ and ‘small’ and just learning to say ‘thank you’ to God in the many moments that make up any given day. And what practicing gratitude throughout the day is opening my eyes to see is that God is more present and more active than I realized.
Today, I’m thanking God for you, GENESIS.
Today, I’m thanking God that I get to be part of a community that hungers to see more of God at work in our lives and desires to be used by God to help as many people as we possibly can walk with God.
