October 3rd

The Thankful Leper

             On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.  As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, 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 went, they were made clean.  Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.  He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?  Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”  Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

Luke 17:11-19

            We are very rarely grateful for things that we think that we deserve.  I did not give glory to God when I got A’s on tests that I studied for.  I did not bow down in reverence for races that I trained really hard to win.  If I think that I have earned something, I congratulate myself instead of crediting others.

            There is something inside most people that believes that they deserve good health.  We were created to be healthy and live perfect lives with God in the Garden.  That is how life is supposed to work, right?  We just assume that we will live long, full lives and be pain-free.  If something happens that goes against that, we search for reasons and wonder if God has something against us.

            In general, people are sad or angry at God when they are sick and they don’t think about Him when they are well.  They assume that good health is what their natural state is supposed to be and that something has clearly gone wrong with the world if they have physical complications.  If God happens to heal them from their affliction, they tend to not be grateful for long.  I think that is because we assume that good health is our birthright and God is just returning something that is rightfully ours in the first place. 

            That was how I thought when I battled chronic tendonitis for 15 years.  Every day I wondered what I had done wrong to anger God and leave me in such pain.  Then eventually the pain diminished and I just felt normal again and did not overflow with gratitude for God’s healing. 

            Then we had my son and I discovered that physical health is not to be taken for granted.  A sound body and sound mind are not guarantees in this life.  In fact, when we look at the broken world around us, it makes sense that we would all live in pain and if we happen to be pain-free, that should be a testament to God’s love and care of us.

            I find myself being thankful much more now than I ever was before I became a father.  I praise God when the boy can walk.  I praise Him when my son can read or take a bath or tie his shoe or eat something other than scrambled eggs.  I was grateful when the boy first learned to use the bathroom and dress himself and cook breakfast.  None of these were guaranteed to happen.  There were nights when I wondered if I would have to be taking my son to the bathroom when he was fully grown or if he would ever speak.  There was not much sleep to be found those nights.

            The leper realized that his newfound health was a gift from God and so he went back to say thank you.  Every day that we are able to get out of bed…every day that our children can do things that they could not do 5 years ago…every developmental milestone that we cross, remember to thank God.  These are gifts that we are receiving, not what we deserve.

                        Give thanks with a grateful heart.

           

A moment to reflect:

What gets in the way of being grateful?  Spend some time choosing gratitude today.