Two years ago, a friend of mine got married and I bought a gift from their wedding
gift website. Surprisingly, I received a "Thank You" card in the
post. Inside the card it said: "Thank you so much for the gift."
It made me feel good that my friend and his wife took their time to not only
write a thank you card but they posted it.
You
may be wondering why I was surprised. Well, I was not used to the practice.
Ask yourself...
Have I ever done something for
someone and I expected the individual to say thank you but they never did? Are you someone that says thank you or do you feel too pompous to say
thank you to those who have helped you? Do you know that Jesus expects us
to give thanks at all times?
A man
once said after he went food shopping for his household and came back home, his
wife said "thank you darling for taking your time to provide food for
our family by going food shopping." The husband did not expect his wife to
have said thank you as he felt it was his duty and role to not only provide the
basic care but to assist in purchasing the food items. Nevertheless, the
husband felt appreciated by the act of gratitude that his wife had shown to
him. When
last did you thank your spouse for their role at home? Create time today and
thank your spouse, be specific about what you are thanking them for.
You may be thinking that you do
not mind if people do not show you gratitude after you have helped them. It
does not negate the fact that you should say thank you to others when they have
helped you.
Who should you express thanks
to?
Express your thanksgiving to everyone
whether the person is younger than you, older than you or whether they are your
junior or senior at work or school. Saying thank you should also not be based
on age, social status and title.
Like many of us that appreciate
thanksgiving whether we expect it or not, Jesus Christ expects us to give
thanks to God through Him (1 Thess 5:18).
When last did you thank God?
When last did you thank God for
your job? For the breath of life? For the fact that you can eat, drink, see,
spend money and buy things? When last did you thank God for the beautiful
flowers, trees and animals that you see? For your house? Parents? Children? For
peace, for joy? For safety? All these things are not our entitlements, it is
because God has chosen to shower us with these blessings.
Whether you are a believer in
Jesus Christ or a person who does not even believe in Jesus Christ, the fact
that you are alive is only possible because of Jesus Christ. It is only God
through Jesus Christ that can bless you with wonderful blessings; we must
therefore not be oblivious to His blessings.
There's a story of the ten lepers
in the bible that Jesus Christ healed. Leprosy was not only a horrible skin
disease, the social stigma of having it led to misery during the ancient
Israel. In fact, historians made us understand that in the olden days, lepers were treated like dead people and castigated.
One day, Jesus was walking
through a town in Jerusalem, He saw a group of ten lepers, they stood far away
from Him and called to Him, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."
They must have known who Jesus was and the power that He had to heal.
When Jesus heard them, He called
back to the lepers and said, "Go, show yourself to the priest."
As the lepers went on their way
to see the priest, they looked at their skin and the leprosy was gone. Jesus, the greatest healer had healed their disease! They were so happy
that they ran up and down the streets singing and dancing.
Only one of them went back
to thank Jesus for healing him. Jesus was quite surprised that only one leper
came back to say thank you. Jesus said to him: "Weren't there ten who were
healed? Where are the other nine?"
Are you going to be part of the
nine lepers that forgot to say "Thank You?" Or would you be like the
only leper that came back to thank God?
Action
Now, give thanks to God. Thank
Him for what He is doing for you, what He will do and what He has done.
Prayer
Holy Spirit, please help me to
remember to give thanks to you every day for all that you do for me. Lord, let
me also remember to express my gratitude to people that help me in Jesus'
name. Amen.
Have a lovely week!
