Gratitude

Esther 1-2; Psalms 150; Luke 17 

“As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, ‘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, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice…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?’”

Luke 17:12-15, 17, 18

One of the clearest ways we express gratitude to God for his saving, healing, renewing work in our life, is to give praise to him. Worship and praise to God is the language of a grateful person. Our desperation in crying out to God for our needs can be quickly forgotten once those needs are met. We forget that we cannot save ourselves. Jesus pointed out that the one man who returned to praise God for his healing was a foreigner. Perhaps that’s why we see many answers to prayer in the global south. There are more desperate prayers, and once they are answered, there is much praise to God.

“Lord Jesus, thank you for saving, healing, and delivering me from sin and all its destruction. You are worthy of all my praise, worship, and honor this day.”