As He entered a village [between Samaria and Galilee], ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed. Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:12–18)
Self-evaluation
Do you—do I—always thank and glorify God for His blessings?
Or are you—am I—more likely to be one of the nine who didn’t thank Christ, didn’t glorify God for cleansing?
Do you—do I—pray for specific things, and, when we get them, just go on our way?
Do you—do I—know we’ve had something nice happen, wonderful even, and be glad it happened. But then fail to thank Him? Fail to glorify God?
Do you—do I—focus on the Giver, or on His gifts?
Do you—do I—accept His blessings, but fail to worship Him?
Are you—am I—a taker?
Are you—am I—more like the nine or the one?
Attitude of Gratitude
I want to be the one, not one of the nine.
I want to have a permanent “attitude of gratitude,” alert to God’s many blessings, and thanking and glorifying Him.
One way to increase gratitude is to develop a habit of listing three things that happened during the day for which you’re grateful. This helps me be more alert to His many blessings, and then thank Him for them. There is a lot of secular research that this works.
Lord, Have Mercy
Have mercy on us, Father. Help us continually give thanks to You, and glorify Your holy name.
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me. (Psalm 13:5–6)
