Be the One!
“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good.” Psalms 107:1
Read Luke 17:11-19
This weekend in Elementary we watched the Thankful Leper by Saddleback Kids. The fun began when ten kids were given the opportunity to wrap themselves up as lepers using toilet paper and act out the story alongside our friend who played the part of Jesus! I was impressed with Joann and her on the spot hands on idea to help the kids better understand the lesson. They loved it! Afterwards, we talked about how Jesus must have felt when only one Leper who he healed came back to thank Him! We asked the question “will you be the one to thank Jesus?”
I wonder how many times God has blessed us and like the nine Lepers, we fail to thank him? I can count so many blessings that I have not thanked Jesus for. It can be easy to stop thanking Jesus for all He is doing in our life. We become so used to the good things that He does for us that we take for granted these many blessings. Often, we allow ourselves to believe that we have what we have because of the good we have done. Maybe, we believe that our hard work has finally paid off. This has some truth. We can’t sit back, do nothing and expect Jesus to get us where we desire to be. However, it is because of Jesus that we have what we need to do the work He has called us to do. Some of us begin to think about how life has been a challenge and we can’t see pass the challenges in life long enough to thank Jesus for the good that He is still doing. There is so much good that God is doing even in the midst of all the challenges of life. There is always a reason to be thankful. What keeps you from saying thanks?
I’ve realized lately that I haven’t been very thankful in my marriage. Anytime I get mad at Jessie I begin to list all the ways he is not helpful. I suddenly forget all the big ways that he does help. I recently felt convicted about this as Jesus said “think of all he does for you!” The first thing I thought was, I NEVER have to fill my car with gas. For me, this is HUGE and Im so thankful for a husband who is willing to take over in this area. This is not number one on my list but it was the first to come to mind. Now I am spending the month listing out all the ways that Jessie is a blessing to our family. It suddenly makes perfect sense. If I’m struggling to be thankful in my marriage or any other area in life, am I truly living a life of thanksgiving toward Jesus? If we find ourselves complaining more than thanking we should probably start a list of all that Jesus has done for us. Begin to thank Him for the many blessings in your life. We have so much to be thankful for.
We may all be in different seasons of life but in each season there is reason to be thankful. Also, in each season there are many individuals like the 9 lepers who never come back to thank Jesus. Which of the 10 lepers are you? I want to be like the Leper who came back to thank Jesus. I want to be the one who is thankful in all areas in my life. Will you be the one to thank Jesus for all that He has done for you? Will you be the one who comes back?
Shine4Him 