A Heart of Gratitude

“While Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he was going through the area between Samaria and Galilee.

As he came into a small town, ten men who had a skin disease met him there. They did not come close to Jesus but called to him, ‘Jesus! Master! Have mercy on us!’

When Jesus saw the men, he said, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ As the ten men were going, they were healed. When one of them saw that he was healed, he went back to Jesus, praising God in a loud voice. Then he bowed down at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (And this man was a Samaritan.) Jesus said, ‘Weren’t ten men healed? Where are the other nine? Is this Samaritan the only one who came back to thank God?’” – Luke 17:11-18

There was only one man out of ten that thanked Jesus for healing him. What a heart of gratitude this man had! Are you that one person who also has a heart of gratitude for what Jesus has done for you? This is the season for some countries to give thanks, especially to God. He does a lot for people all over the world – even for people who do not believe He exists. God provides humans with everything, and everything on earth belongs to Him (Deuteronomy 10:14, Psalm 24:1-2). He is the ultimate giver, healer and sustainer of all of His creation (Mark 2:17, Acts 17:25, Revelation 4:11).

We have many reasons to thank God for everything. He makes it easy for us to show our gratitude to Him. It is done with a grateful heart and by saying “thanks” with our mouths. The word thanks is a small six letter word to tell God for all of the big and great things He has done and will do for us. He deserves this kind of praise and recognition. The angels even give thanks to God. We can see their praise of thanks in Revelation 7:11-12:

“All the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures. They all bowed down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, ‘Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength belong to our God forever and ever. Amen!’”

Let us give God our praise of thanksgiving since this is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:18), Amen!

Prayer of the day:

Dear heavenly Father,

Please give us a heart of gratitude since we have every reason to thank you. You are full of glory, wisdom, honor, power, and strength. You are also the giver and provider of everything. Help us to be the one who always gives You thanks because we have a lot to be thankful for. Let our mouths say thank you with a grateful heart that is full of gratitude. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!