Greetings everyone and welcome to today’s edition of …
Learn & Grow with Jesus Every Day
Today’s Topic is: The Beauty of Gratitude
Date: Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Bible Reading: Luke 17:12-18 NIV
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. 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? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Luke 17:12-18 NIV
Discussion Question: Have you thanked God and shown Him gratitude today?
Have you ever done something for someone that was so life-changing that out of overflowing joy, happiness, excitement, and instant celebration, they somehow forgot to express say thank you or show gratitude? How did that make you feel? You may be wondering how that is possible - but the fact is we've all been guilty of this at one point or the other in our lives. As disappointing and inexcusable as it may seem, sadly, we most assuredly do it to God daily and more often than we do our fellow men.
One of the most amazing things about God's faithfulness is that He never tires to carry us and sustains us regardless of how thankless, unpappreciative and ungrateful we are. If you have been searching for proof of God’s faithfulness, look no further. Just look at your very own life.
The very breath in your lungs is His. The light in your eyes that makes it possible for you to see is His. The water and blood that flow through your veins are His. The skeleton that carries the weight and the frame of your body are His. The air that flows through your vocal cords that give you your voice is His. That fleshy muscular pump that circulates blood through your whole body without any external mechanical or electrical aid is His. He is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together (Colossians 1:17 NIV).
Doesn't it amaze you how the very things we take for granted daily, the very things that seem unassuming and trivial, the very things that seem small and very common to us, the very things for which we ever rarely thank God, are the very things that make for our wellness and keep us alive?
I have seen people with fully functional nostrils but they can't breathe on their own. People with tongues but cannot speak. People with ears but cannot hear. People with limbs but cannot move. People with brains but are vegetative. People with kidneys but cannot pee. People with esophagus but can neither eat nor swallow. People with eyes but have never seen the light of the day.
All these people suffer from one debilitating disease or disability, yet, they are happier, more contented, and more thankful to God than you and I. They smile every chance they get. They testify of God’s goodness through severe pain any chance they get. They are grateful for life above all things, even though the life they live is pitiful, humiliating and dehumanizing. With the rising of the sun, they look up and utter praises to God who made them and sustains them, rarely ever asking God to heal their ailment. They have accepted their fate. They have found God's purpose in their disability. They have embraced the hope and peace that only God can give in their hearts. “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3).
We rarely pray, and when we eventually fall on our knees under heavy guilt for not praying, we flood the Throne of God with a laundry list of selfish demands and requests. God can never bless us enough no matter what, and we never remember to thank Him for allowing us to draw breath into our lungs in the first place.
The same God that created those with disabilities created you and me with limitless and boundless abilities. In His compassion and mercy, He chose not to let health challenges, pain, and suffering be our lot or portion in life, but apparently, that is scarcely enough for you and me.
By the time you finish reading this, 100 people would have died from cancer. 100 would have died from Covid-19. Hundreds would have died from ghastly accidents all over the world. Many young women would have died on the hospital table birthing their children. Fathers would have died striving to put food on the table. And children would have died from severe hunger, from intense thirst and from the daily struggle of scavenging food for themselves and their siblings because their parents are no more. But you, you are sitting pretty and browsing your phone with no danger around you.
Are you better than all those people who just drank their last cup of water, ate their last meals, flew their last flights, said goodbye to their loved ones not knowing it would be their last?
LET EVERYTHING THAT HAS BREATH PRAISE THE LORD. (Psalm 150:6 NIV)
I say no more.
Stay uplifted in Christ always and live cheerfully every day.
Leader Chinedu Nicholas Obodo for Exolom Fellowship, Maryland, USA.
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