A PLACE FOR GRATITUDE

Wednesday: November 11, 2020

Luke 17:18-19 Jesus spoke up, "There were ten who were healed; where are the other nine? Why is this foreigner the only one who came back to give thanks to God?"

There were encounters where people who offered to follow Jesus after being healed were turned away to return to their families but today, we notice Jesus clearly disappointed. After only a single person returned with a heart of gratitude, He asks “where are the other nine?” One only asks such a question when there is an expectation, otherwise it does not have a place.

Jesus wanted reasons why: ‘Why was there only a ten percent rating for gratitude?’ Thus, we can infer a number of plausible reasons: perhaps the nine got too excited that they forgot or were distracted by others on their return journey. However, one thing stands out because of the status of the one leper who returned to give thanks- ‘ he was a foreigner’.

That is usually the one thing which stands in the way of gratitude: ‘an aura of entitlement’. Whenever we feel entitled to receive something, when we carry around the view that something is ‘our due’, we are unlikely to be grateful for it. We therefore end up taking them for granted because it is meant to be ours anyway.

Sweetheart, gratitude does not come as easy as we might think. It is one of the virtues which is easily swept under the carpet. Yet, it holds a special place even in the corridors of God. It is an attitude that requires one to consciously decide to appreciate what they receive from others, whether because they are entitled to or as a result of the fulfilment of  responsibility by others. Let us grateful because that it is an expectation we can meet.

#sly