Saturday, September 13, 2014

AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

READING: LUKE 17:11-19

Verse 19: “And He said to him, ‘Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well’”

Nearly everyone appreciates that it is right and proper to express gratitude for benefits received from another. Even at that people still frequently fail to do so. An example of this failure is found Luke 17. Jesus cleansed ten men of leprosy, but only one of them took the effort required in order to thank the Lord. We can guess why the other nine did not do that, because of behaviors we see around us these days. Sometimes people allow themselves to get busy with other matters and don’t get around to  saying thanks. For some it is a bit embarrassing or uncomfortable to express gratitude so they refrain from doing it. Others may believe they were owed the benefits they received in the first place, therefore recognition of what was done is not necessary. Various other similar human attitudes produce the same effect. We don’t know the final results for the nine ungrateful men in this passage,  but we see that the one who was faithfully grateful received the blessing of the Lord. Therefore we can be taught a scriptural lesson. This lesson is that gratitude to our God results in blessings when we express our thanks. Godly responses to another are reversed to return reward to the grateful one. That’s a thought – about God’s Word.

RESPONSE

1. Do you have an “attitude of gratitude”?

2. What would be your response to the statement made by Jesus in the verse above?