Feeling Gratitude And Not Expressing It is like wrapping a present and not giving it. It is important to be thankful, but we need to do more. Paul tells the Thessalonians, “In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” To give thanks we need to show our gratitude in actions.
As Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him — and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
The Samaritan showed his gratitude by acting on it. He was the only one who came back to thank Jesus. No doubt the other nine were happy to be cured, but no one would have known it by what they did. We need to emulate the Samaritan and demonstrate our thankfulness by actions as well as words.
God is the giver of every good and perfect gift, and He has richly blessed all of us. Do we act like we are thankful?” Do we stop each day to say, “Thank you, Lord?” If not, why not? A children’s hymn says, “Count your blessings, name them one by one” — something we should do everyday. Paul writes to the Romans about some who, “when they knew God, they glorified him not as God neither were thankful.” Few in the world stop to thank God just as the nine lepers who went merrily on their way after being healed. The Psalmist tells us, “Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good.” Paul tells the Ephesians, “Giving thanks always for all things unto God.”
We tend to take for granted some of God’s greatest gifts until we are in danger of losing them. We ignore our eyesight until we begin to go blind, our hearing until we are deaf, and our ability to walk until we can’t. Isaiah tells us about a time soon to come when “the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.” No doubt those who will appreciate these blessings the most will be those who have lost them, but those who receive these blessings will be those who remembered to thank God now for all His blessings.
More important than our physical blessings are the spiritual ones. How thankful we are to know the Lord and be eligible to receive the priceless gift of immortality. Paul tells us that the goodness of God leads us to repentance. If we are not thankful now, will He give us the gift of immortality when Jesus comes?
To show our gratitude to God, we need to show it to God’s other children. Do we remember to thank our family, our ecclesia and those around us for what they do for us? Paul tells the Ephesians, “Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.”
Don’t wrap a present and fail to give it. Don’t wait until someone has died to give them flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” If someone has been kind to you, say, “Thank you.” Do it now. And then, show your thankfulness by passing on the kindness to others in need of such a blessing. Marcus Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.” Paul tells us, “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One