Luke 17:12-18
Then as He entered a certain village, there
met Him tem men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their
voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go,
show yourselves to the priests. And so it was, that as they went, they were cleansed.
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed,
returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at Hi
feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.
So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not
ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to
give glory to God except this foreigner?”
As we come to the end of yet another year,
and as we look back at the paths we have walked in our life, I am sure many of
us would have used similar words as that of these lepers: ‘Jesus, Master, have
mercy on us…’ or ‘Help us, Lord’. And the Lord would have helped us. In which
case, we are confronted with the question of Jesus: Have you given glory to
God? Have you been thankful at all?
You see, many a times, we take God’s
healing, guidance and working in, for and around our lives as granted. Just
like that nine lepers! And today, it is my prayer that we develop a thankful
heart; a heart that is grateful for all His benefits. And developing a grateful
heart is not all that difficult; all you have to do is to look at the Psalms.
When we read through the Psalms, we find many that are written down as
thanksgiving to God-for His wondrous works, for His loving kindness, for His
healing and deliverance, and so on.
Like many of you here, I do have the habit
of reading Psalms. But at this time of the year, I consciously meditate on
Psalm 107. Here the Psalmist starts with the verse: Oh, give thanks to the
LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. (Ps. 107:1) And ends the
Psalm with this verse: Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will
understand the loving-kindness of the LORD. (Ps. 107:43) And in-between these
verses, the Psalmist lists down the times and ways God had worked on their
behalf, and for which one must be thankful. Now, I do not know about you, but I
do keep a list of all the benefits that the Lord has extended during the year for
me, my family and for the extended family, the church-of healing, guidance and
provision at the time when we needed it.
A foolish person will receive gifts from
God, and then go about with his ‘business as usual’. He may not even recall how
the Lord had helped him! But, as the Psalmist says, a wise man will
observe-consider, think, pause and reflect about these things…and will
understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.
“Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His
wonderful works to the children of men!”
Be wise! Begin to think and thank God for
what He has done for you. You can also begin to thank God for what He will do
for you. All of us-we need to develop this heart of thankfulness, and praise
God for His lovingkindness. The Bible says: Whoever offers praise glorifies Me;
and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God. As
we thank Him, and make the necessary changes in our conduct, He will show us
the way of salvation! What a wonderful God we serve! Yes, we can thank Him for
the answer that is on the way; even for the things not yet received in His
will; even for the waiting God has kept for us.
Be Thankful-In everything and For everything
A carnal human response to some unanswered
request is to grumble, complain and murmur… But we must learn to praise Him in
the storm, even! We do not have control over all our circumstances-but, we do
have control over how we are going to respond to those circumstances. In every
circumstance of life, He is with us and His lovingkindness does not depart from
us-what a good reason for thankfulness! 1 Thess. 5:18 says: IN
everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
We also cannot see the end from the
beginning-our vision and understanding is so limited; but God sees all in full
perspective. Therefore, as we take hold of Him and the truth of His word, His
Spirit will help us graduate in our questioning attitude-from “Why me?” to “How
long?” to “Hallelujah!” Therefore, according to Eph. 5:20 we can give thanks to
God FOR everything!
Thankfully Continue-In Prayer and In Praise
If you want to be vigilant in your prayer,
let it be filled with thanksgiving! Col. 4:2 says: Continue earnestly in
prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
Heb. 13:15 says: Therefore by Him let us
continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of our
lips, giving thanks to His name.
Continually offer, prayers and praises-with
thanksgiving, to God.
Attitude of Gratitude
When we pray, and when we praise-it is not
just to feel good, or to show to others how strong we are in the Lord. It must
come not just from our lips, but from our heart. Heb. 12:28 says: Therefore,
since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have {grace | gratitude},
by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Beloved,
let us HAVE gratitude… it must not just be a SHOW!
A kingdom within us is growing, increasing
and expanding-it is the kingdom of God that will not be shaken; all other
things that you see will be shaken and then crumble someday. An unshakable
kingdom of God within is united with an unshakable faith in God- of things not
yet seen, but already convinced of its existence. Even in God’s creation, He
spoke (things into existence) and then He saw (that it was good)! That is why,
it is so important to have and exercise faith! Whether you are in the midst of
the storm, or in the misty mountains; or down in a deep valley… where God has
led, let prayer and praise continually ring out from your heart and lips with
thanksgiving. Cry out to the Lord… “He calms the storm, so that its waves are
still.” [Ps. 107:29]
We have Him-our great God, with us. We have
His great promises-true every time. He has done great things for us in the
past-forget not all His benefits. He will continue to do good things on our
behalf in the future. Therefore, let prayer and praise continually flow out of your
grateful heart today.
And may the Lord bless you and keep you;
and show you His lovingkindness providing you with what you need at this time.
Amen.
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