Saying Thank You - The Ten Lepers

As they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done.

Luke 17:14-16

In one episode of the television comedy Seinfeld, Jerry and his friends become the beneficiaries of an acquaintance’s generous gift of hockey tickets. Play-off hockey tickets, no less.

Though Jerry also had the promise of tickets for the next game, he and his friends missed out because Jerry refused to call and thank their hockey ticket source, who gave the next game’s tickets to someone else.

Sometimes expressing gratitude means going out of your way to let the other party know how thankful you feel. The Bible illustrates this principle in the story of ten men that Jesus healed of leprosy.

When these men saw Jesus approaching, they cried out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Luke 17:13). So far, so good, but after these men received their miraculous healing, only one of them returned to give thanks. You can hear the surprise in Jesus’ voice when he says, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?” (Luke 17:17).

All ten lepers received physical healing that day, but only one man was changed for good. His heart was so filled with gratitude that he had to go back to Jesus and thank him. He had already received one special blessing that day, and because he went out of his way to thank Jesus, he received something even greater.

The same goes for you when you make that special effort to say thank you.

It’s always good to have an attitude of gratitude for the things God has done for you. Take the time to say so. Go out of your way to openly praise and thank God.