Heartfelt Gratitude & Thankfulness
One of [the ten men who had leprosy], when he saw he was healed,
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?”
Luke 17:15-17 (NIV)
For a moment, try and replay in your mind the conversations of the past week, whether ones you have been part of yourself or those you have merely overheard. How many of them majored on some kind of complaining or moaning, and how many featured some kind of gratitude or thankfulness? My guess is that far too few evidenced genuine gratitude.
That is what Jesus observes here. He healed ten men who had leprosy, but only one of the ten returned to thank him. In his Expository Thoughts on the Gospels (a must-have and a must-read if ever there was one!), JC Ryle makes some telling remarks on this passage:
“We are more ready to pray than to praise, and more disposed to ask God for what we have not, than to thank Him for what we have.” Is that true of you? If so, what might you do to remedy it? You could start by reflecting at the end of the day on the good things the Lord has given you that day (blessings both physical and spiritual), the good things he has helped you to do (including loving others and giving to them), and the bad things he has kept you from (both sins and dangers) – and then thank him for them.
“Few indeed are to be found who are not continually hiding their mercies under a bushel, and setting their wants and trials on a hill.” What a striking way of putting the question we began with! How can we avoid being the kind of people who tend to complain rather than to give thanks? Try listening to yourself! And then determine, with God’s help, to be better at ‘setting your mercies on a hill’ for others to see and hear and ‘hiding your wants and trials under a bushel’ between you and the Lord.
“Thankfulness is a flower which will never bloom excepting upon a root of deep humility.” Here I think Ryle gets to the heart of the matter, and it reveals a painful truth. Why are we not more thankful? Because we are too proud! We expect God to give us good things, and we complain when he withholds them. Why? Because we think we deserve them, and it is his job to deliver them. We forget our true position before the Lord: creatures before the Creator, and sinners before a holy God. We forget that any good thing we receive is due to his mercy and grace.
I find this deeply convicting, prone as I am to bouts of self-pity. I am really saying to God that I deserve better than I am receiving, when really the opposite is true. The truth is that I deserve nothing at all, or I deserve worse, and every good thing I receive from the Lord, and every bad thing I do not receive, is purely thanks to his mercy and grace.
Lord, give us the deep humility that bears fruit in heartfelt thankfulness, and make us those who throw ourselves at Jesus’ feet and thank him. Amen.
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)