Yesterday morning’s sermon was on the ten lepers that Jesus had cleansed. Only one of them turned back to thank Jesus.
Jesus’ question is sticking out to me, “Where are the nine?” That makes me look at myself. God does good things for me every day. God gives me miracles. God lets me talk with Him. God blesses me in ways I often miss. How often do I just go about all these as if they weren’t worth any thanks?
There are times when we don’t forget to give God thanks so much as we find another reason why our problems have cleared. Sometimes we think things got better on their own. Sometimes we think we fixed it all. Sometimes we think someone else fixed everything. Sometimes we figure it would’ve cleared up anyway. Sometimes we wonder if we even really had a problem. We have explanations and reasons to actually avoid thanking God. It’s like the story of a man who was looking for a parking space. He asked God to help him find one close to the store. About that time the clouds moved, illuminating a spot where someone was just pulling out. Then the man said, “Oh, never mind, God. I found one.”
While we are all talking about being thankful, let’s actually BE thankful. Let’s actually give thanks to the God who deserves it. If we have been any of the nine, let us change that and join the one who takes time to thank and glorify God.