The Gift of a Grateful Heart
“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.” Luke 17:15-16
On Halloween night we average about 75 trick-or-treaters collecting candy on their annual adventure. I am always delighted when a few of them actually say “thank you.” I observe 90% of them grabbing as many pieces as their hand can grasp before I politely say, “only one please, I have a lot of kids coming tonight.”
In the verses from Luke 17, Jesus had just saved the lives of 10 men who were dying from a deadly infectious disease and were spending their remaining moments far outside of the city ostracized from their loved ones. 90% of them went back their loved ones with great joy, but only one of them took the time to find Jesus to say “thank you.”
I need to stop being judgmental of the 90% of trick-or-treaters and 90% of the healed men in this Bible verse. I am often part of the 90%. I grab at God’s blessings with my hand in God’s candy dish and then expect more. I compare what I have to what others have and become dissatisfied with my own life. I do and say things that dishonor God and yet He forgives me over and over because of the sacrifice Jesus made. I am forgiven and richly blessed, and at the same time, selfishly entitled.
Through the example of this one man who came back to Jesus God shows us the way out of our selfish pit. He shows us gratitude. I now keep a “Gratitude Journal” to write done 2 or 3 things every day that I am thankful to God for…even when it doesn’t seem like a very good day. That habit has changed my perspective. It changes what I look for in the nooks and crannies of the passing day. When you combine that practice with time in God’s Word and prayer, it just becomes natural to clearly see God’s blessings in all circumstances. When God gives you that gift on the inside, it makes its way to the outside.
Happy Thanksgiving. I pray that God blesses all of us with the gift of a grateful heart to more thoroughly see and enjoy all the blessings He pours out on us every day.
Dear Gracious Father, Your mercies are new every morning, but I often look only at my own needs and find only discontentment when I see what others have. Forgive me for my weakness of selfishness and open my eyes to see deeply loved I am in Jesus and how you continue to bless me beyond my imagination. I ask for the gift of a grateful heart that will change my perspective in life to see your grace and to extend it to those around me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.