A Good Old-Fashioned Thank You

I sat down this morning to talk to God and my first thoughts were all my requests and concerns. Certainly nothing wrong with that. The Bible says to cast our cares on Him for He cares for us. (1 Peter 5:7) But, in the process of asking, I began to get distracted by the thoughts that came to me. Thoughts of all the things God has already given me and things He has already done for me. I began to think of the importance of thankfulness...

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• When we don't say thank you, we can come across like entitled kids. lol It is odd, really. Thanklessness is odd. And should be seen as odd. Even Jesus commented in the gospels when he healed the ten lepers how odd it struck Him. How odd that only one leper came back to say even something little like, "Hey, thanks man for what you did for me. That was really amazing and nice of you!" (Luke 17:11-19) (see below)

• Thankfulness reciprocates back to the giver and it's the natural godly response when we receive. It's a God-established response. Even Jesus, being fully God Himself in human form, still thanked His Father in prayer. As we read the gospels, we hear thankfulness included in His words. It was basic humility in Him. It was giving credit where credit was due. He positioned Himself appropriately and showed us what receiving humbly really looks like. It shows us His heart and love and basic gratitude He had toward His Father.

• Interestingly, being thankful or thankless exposes the heart of the receiver. And honestly, I know for myself, that I'm not nearly as thankful to God as I should be. I take so much for granted. I ask Him for the things I need all the time, but don't always stop to say, "Hey, thanks, God, for hearing Me and responding to that request!" 

• Thankfulness fuels our own faith. It gets us looking more at what we have than what we don't have. It's harder to grumble and complain when we are continuously rattling off all the things that God has already given us. It's harder to whine about lack when you look down at your hands and see them already so full! Yes, maybe God hasn't answered one particular prayer that we have been asking Him about, but look around and see what He has answered! Look around and see what He has given you already! Is your glass half full or half empty? I know for me it's easy to start fretting about an upcoming bill that's coming in the mail, but is not always so natural for me to stop and consider all the bills He has helped me pay. I don't consider all the time that, in all my 50 years of living, I have never gone without a meal (unless intentionally fasting) and have never been without a bed. The more I focus on what I have, the more it fuels me to trust Him for all things.

So our obvious question today is this: 

Are you staying in a continuous posture of thankfulness? Are you remembering the Lord when good things come your way? Are you going back to thank Him?

He is worthy of our thanks and deserves a good old-fashioned "thank you" from our lips.

***

As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 

He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. 

One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. 

Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭17‬:‭11‬-‭19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.17.11-19.NLT