“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 he 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 whole.'” (Luke 17:11-19, NKJV)
One of the greatest lessons that can be taught to young and old alike is thankfulness. It is easy to desire things, but it requires far more effort to be thankful for what has been given to you.
In a world of entitlement, where people believe they are owed everything they have and more, it is hard to find genuine thankfulness. Many people are thankful as long as they have everything they want, but if they desire something else they become immediately ungrateful for all they have previously received.
Out of the ten lepers Jesus healed, the only one who exhibited thankfulness was the one who was supposed to be the furthest from God. Equally in our lives, sometimes it is those that have the least, or who we think are the least deserving, that are the most thankful.
Do we thank God for the blessings bestowed upon us each day? Do we stop and tell him how much his love and grace mean to us, or do we simply continue on with life like those other nine men that kept on walking? Let us never forget to be thankful.