My brother, sister, if you are asked what your biggest sin? What would you think of first? Greed? Materialism? Anger? Lack of forgiveness? Pride? Or could it be ingratitude? Unfortunately, many people often find more reasons to complain than to be thankful. How sad? Or should we rather say that it is ingratitude towards God?
Yes, everyone has reason to thank God, the Creator of all things. And God will never be tired of hearing us say, “Thank you.” So why do we spend more time complaining, criticizing or ignoring what He has done or is doing do for us? Because of ingratitude! And ingratitude is a byproduct of pride! The sad truth is that when someone wants to get something from someone, they will do whatever it takes to try to get what they want. Just look at this: in today’s passage, Jesus healed 10 lepers, but only one returned to Him to say thank you and look at the way He did it: “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him” (Luke 17:15-16)… Yes, my friend, how do you say “thank you” to God? When you pray to ask Him for something, you stop everything you are doing to kneel down, bow down, praise Him, and you even go to the church on time or ahead of time… but once He answers you, excuses starts and only your lips are quick to say “thank you Lord”? No, that leper returned to Jesus to praise God and he threw himself at Jesus’ feet! This should make us understand that we do not say “thank you” to God, as we say “thank you” to our next door neighbour for holding the door of the lift for us. God is God!
Yes, many believers are ungrateful, for when they need a prayer, they go to church, they ask for help from their pastor or people, etc… But once God has answered them they never return say “thank you” the same way they were seeking God before He answered them. My friend, we cannot rip off God, we cannot use God! Maybe He answered you so you can see how ungrateful you are and that you can change! But if you do not see it, your eyes will remain blind and deception will remain in your heart. Sometimes the truth must be told! Many people claim to be Christians, but their heart is so full of deceit because they are “Christians” until they are healed, restored, promoted or until they see God answering their prayer.
God is not a man to be defrauded, my friend. So let’s get rid of ingratitude from our hearts. Look at what happened at the end of this passage: “Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” (Verses 17-19). Jesus declared this man “well”, in other words “saved”. In other words, the leper who returned to thank the Lord, received much more than healing, because that is what God wants: He has much more to offer you than what you are asking Him for! In the meantime, Jesus wondered “Where are the other nine?” (Verse 17). Some people think it is better to give an offering to the Lord. Sometimes it is easier indeed to offer something than to act appropriately. Have you ever watched a movie where the husband cheated on his wife, and then he buys her flowers instead of just asking for her forgiveness? My friend, is it not what we do when instead of saying “thank you” in an appropriate and a respectful way to the Lord, we hasten to give Him offerings? My friend, your gift is worthless if your heart is not attached to it! The Lord expects us to go back to Him the right way to say “thank you.” So, let’s stop lip-singing “thank you Lord”, for God wants you to do it in a meaningful way. Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.