When we were kids, our mothers made us do it. After every birthday and every Christmas, we sat down and wrote thank-you notes. “Dear Aunt Edna, thank you for the socks.”
Saying thank-you seems so simple. Yet so many of us forget.
One day, ten men with leprosy saw Jesus coming. Lepers weren’t allowed near other people, so they stood at a distance and shouted, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
Jesus told them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” That was what the law required for someone who had been cured. So they went. And on the way, all ten of them were healed.
Imagine the excitement. Clean skin. No more shouting “Unclean!” No more living in exile. Going home to their families for the first time in who knows how long.
Nine of them kept on running.
But one of them stopped. He turned around and came back to Jesus, praising God at the top of his lungs. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him.
And here’s the kicker: he was a Samaritan, a foreigner, an outsider.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?”
Ten were healed. One said thank-you.
That’s a gratitude rate of 10%. Ouch.
So, what is gratitude? Gratitude is turning around. It’s stopping in the middle of the blessing to thank the One who gave it.
All ten men were healed. But only one heard Jesus say, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Be the one.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank-you. Thank-you for every blessing, big and small, the ones I noticed and the ones I didn’t. Thank-you for giving me the gratitude of the tenth leper, so that I will always turn around and say thank-you. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Wikipedia: Cleansing ten lepers, Samaritans
Look-It Up:
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.”
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Free Bonus:
Under the Law of Moses, a person with a skin disease had to live outside the camp, wear torn clothes, and cry out “Unclean! Unclean!” (Leviticus 13:45-46).
In 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving, to be held on the last Thursday of November.