IS YOUR GRADITUTE WITH THE RIGHT ATTITUDE?
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“He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and
thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.”—Luke 17:16 (NIV)
Recently, I was talking to a mother of teenagers who
was complaining that her children did not seem to be grateful. When I asked her what was going on she
related the how bad she felt that she could not afford to buy one of her boys a
certain pair of shoes that he wanted, so she convinced her husband that if he
would get a second job they would be able to afford the “extras” for the children. He did with the thought that it would be
temporary; however, before long the children wanted more and more things, so
the mother took a second job. It seemed
that no matter how hard she and her husband worked to provide the “extras” for
the children it was never enough, and before long their attitude changed from
one of gratitude to one of “you owe me.”
This event reminded me of the story of the ten
lepers in Luke 17:11-19. Jesus told them
to show themselves to the priests and they would be healed. All ten were healed, but only one returned to
thank Jesus and to glorify God
“Now it happened as He went to
Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain
village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus,
Master, have mercy on us!” So when He
saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so
it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw
that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and
fell down on his face at His
feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus
answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But
where are the nine? Were there not any found who
returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And
He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made
you well.”
I counseled the woman to talk to her husband and decide if these “extras”
were teaching their children the values that they wanted to instill into them
and if they were now feeling stuck in a routine that needed to change. She contacted me a few weeks later to let me
know that after she and her husband had reached a decision to quit their second
jobs they had a family meeting a told the children their decision. At first the children were dismayed because
mom and dad were not going to buy their every desire, but later the children’s
attitude greatly improved and they even began to help around the house without
complaining. She said their whole
household had become more peaceful, loving and thankful for the things that
they had.
Too often we take our blessings for granted. We are too busy or we do not care enough to
thank God or to thank others for all they do for us. Psalm 92:1 says, “It is a good think to give thanks unto the Lord.” Let’s be like the leper who was genuinely
thankful and took the time to thank Jesus for healing him.
Prayer—Heavenly Father, thank
You for always taking care of us and for giving us all that is good in our
lives, in Jesus Name. Amen
