Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. Luke 17:19 (KJV)
We don’t always feel like praising God. Sometimes it seems much more natural to complain, and other times it just isn’t convenient to stop everything to thank Him. However, we can’t live our lives by what we feel.
Luke 17:11–19 tells the story of ten lepers who were healed by Jesus. At that time, leprosy was a terrible diagnosis to receive because a life sentence of loneliness accompanied it. When someone showed signs of leprosy, they immediately were separated from their community. If they had a family, they could never again touch their spouse or hold their children.
One day ten lepers called out to Jesus. He told them to show themselves to the priest, who was authorized to give them permission to reenter society if they were healed.
As they walked, imagine their excitement when they realized they had been healed. I’m sure they wanted to rush out to get their clean health records and then run to tell their estranged family members. Stopping to thank Jesus was low on their list of things to do.
Yet, one leper did just that. He turned and walked back to where Jesus was to thank Him. The rest were so enamoured with their blessing that they forgot to thank the one who blessed them.
God is looking for thankful people, but it’s not just for His benefit. Jesus said that the other nine were made clean. But He told the man who came back that his faith had made him whole. When this man made the effort to stop and thank Jesus, he gained so much more in return.
Today, take the time to thank God for your blessings, even if it isn’t convenient or you don’t feel like it. You’ll be glad you did.