Those are all reason why I love November but the biggest reason of all is because of Thanksgiving. I don't think that one single day is really truly enough time set aside to be thankful for all the blessings we have. So as I've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of November and this subject of thankfulness, I began to mentally start my annual "List of Thanks". A few years ago, I started a list on November 1st and each day I would add 1 thing I was thankful for to the list. By the end of the month, I could look at a sheet spilling over with things that I am blessed with.
This year I plan to do the same and I am sure I will be sharing most of that list here but as this month was getting closer and closer, God kept bringing a specific story from the Bible to my mind. It's the story of the 10 lepers.
"And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: and they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
And one of them,, when he saw that he was healed, turned back and with a loud voice glorified God. And fell down on his face at his feet giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger." Luke 17:14-18
10 percent. That's it. Only 10 percent of the men who were healed from the terminal and awful disease of leprosy turned back to thank and glorify God. 90 percent were unwilling to thank God for what He did for them.
That thought astonished me this week. But to be honest, since God showed me and taught me from that passage, I have seen how unthankful we can truly be. I can unfortunately believe that 90 percent of us are unthankful. We find ourselves living in a society with an "I deserve..." mentality. We believe we deserve health, wealth, family, honesty, respect and love. Oh how mistaken we are for "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father" according to James 1:17.
We ought to be thankful just for God's mercy on us and the simple fact that He doesn't give us what we truly deserve. I found this story to be shameful. These men were given life back. They were "afar off" because when someone contracted leprosy and it began to overpower a person, they would lose limbs and other parts of their body and people kicked them out of the city, to the outskirts. If lepers did come near others they had to yell "Unclean! Unclean" as a warning for those around them.
I have a feeling that each and every one of these men who were healed were exceptionally happy. Who wouldn't be? They could go back to their families, they could hug their kids again and no longer did they have to worry about being unclean. But I bet the man who came back to thank Jesus, well, I bet he had the most joy because in verse 19, Jesus tells him, "Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole."
That man walked away not only a healed man, but a faithful man and most importantly, he walked away a thankful man.
One other thing I noticed about this passage of scripture is that it will takes time to be thankful. The man who came back to thank Jesus started out with the rest of the group but he came back. Maybe once Jesus said arise and go thy way, maybe that man caught up with the other nine. Maybe they asked him what caused his delayed arrival. I'm not sure but I do know it will take a bit of time to be thankful.
I want to be like that one man who came back. He came back alone but he recognized the need for his thankfulness. I don't want to take things for granted, especially those things which the Lord has given me (which happens to be everything!) So although I may not absolutely love my job day in and day out, I'm off to work and thankful that God has provided me with one.
Which group will you be in? Are you part of the 90 or are you part of the 10? Will you be found walking away with the blessing or will your face be planted at His feel, overwhelmed with gratitude?
"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him and bless his name. For the Lord is good: his mercy is everlasting: and his truth endureth to all generations." Psalm 100:4-5
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