Luke 17:15-19,  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.”

Wow! Being healed of leprosy is a huge deal, you would think they would all have been running back to say thank you!  The pain, suffering, and shame of it was all gone, and yet only one came back full of gratitude. God brought this passage to mind this morning when I was getting ready for my prayer time and that was my thought, “ Wow! How many things has God either done for me or given me and I didn’t really take the time to be as grateful as I should be?”  I’m sure we have all had times when we either didn’t really notice or maybe we were too “busy”, but it is so important to always have a heart of gratitude. It will change your perspective on everything.

I have always thought that I am always grateful but then I started thinking about how grateful and excited the Israelites were in the beginning when God brought them out of Egypt and then every time they turned around they complained about something.  Now, let’s face it, they were in a desert and ran out of water and they ate the same thing everyday, morning, noon, and night.  How would you react?  The point is though that they were forgetting the miraculous things God had just done and as a result they grumbled instead of waiting with great anticipation to see what God would do next to meet their needs! How much better would it be if in the wait instead of moaning and groaning we got excited to see God move and work in our lives? I think sometimes we are so spoiled we forget how great we have it.  I remember coming back to the U.S. after my trip to Africa and how grateful I was for a bathroom and clean water!  There are times we can even get so annoyed by a family member, friend, or coworker that God brought into our lives that we lose the gratitude for why God brought them to us in the first place.   An attitude of gratitude can make a huge difference even in our attitude.

How can we learn to show God the glory and gratitude we should be showing Him?  We can start by taking a good look around and seeing how blessed we are even if we don’t have everything we may want or the best of everything like someone else.  We can also ask Him to give us grateful hearts ~ Hearts that see the air we breathe as a blessing!  To see the children that are on your last nerve but are healthy and strong enough to do that, as one of the greatest gifts God has ever given you.  How about that pain in the neck boss of yours at that job God provided you with?  The list could go on and on but you get the point.  Sometimes we really aren’t as grateful as we should be and we need to get intentional to give God glory for ALL He is and all He does for us and in our lives.  What if you stop for just a moment and think of how close eternity is …what’s really important? Is that person you are fed up with saved? If not then that should be your hearts biggest concern, if they are then it’s time to sit down and talk it out. God loves you and you can trust Him, He is faithful! Don’t let the enemy drag you down by getting you to grumble and complain, just tell him, “Not today, I am too busy thanking and praising God for all He has done and is about to do in my life!”

Let’s set our hearts and minds to be thankful and to give Him praise for Who He is and all He has done, is doing and will do in our lives!  He is so amazing and He deserves our praise. With all of the evil going on in the world let’s determine to bless His heart with our thanksgiving and praise!  Let’s determine to put a smile on His face!

Quote:  “When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”  ~ G.K.