ads
Breakfast with the Word Wednesday 32nd Week Ordinary Time
Thanking God should be a daily activity and part of our existence as Christians.
To thank God involves deep and heartful appreciation to God for all that happens in our lives as His children. We ought to be cheerfully doing this.
An Insight
A woman once told a story about how she was saved from an accident. While describing her experience, she said that her driver lost control while they were at a high speed.
The brake became stiff and the car refused to be controlled. At this point, there was nothing they could do if not to face any possible loss of life or damage.
According to her, she lost hope entirely. In the midst of this fearful experience, the only thing she could remember is “Lord save me”.
The driver was able to drive in between some vehicles until he saw a nearby bush and ran into it. He then used the hand brake, the car stopped and nothing happened to the woman, the driver and the car even.
Then when she came out of the car, she began to praise the driver. She said ‘if not this driver I wonder what would have happened.
When the driver was asked how he was able to drive expertly, he said: “ I did not even know what happened until I landed in the bush”. It became a laughing moment.
In this story, the woman called on God to save her and when God saved her, she forgot to thank God and was praising the driver, who was not even aware of how he dribbled His way out.
Like her, many today are totally blind to what God does for us daily. Many of us today have jobs, positions, influence, health, etc. Many have full-fledged bodies with none missing. Yet we take those things for granted.
If we do not have any reason to thank God, thank Him because you are alive. Thank God because you can see, walk, talk, think, eat, breathe and not in pain whatsoever.
Thank God that those related to you are still alive. Many people do not have what you have. That you have them is all by God’s grace. Thank your God.
In the Gospel.
In the gospel of today, we see Jesus travelling to Jerusalem and meeting ten lepers. They shout that Jesus heals them.
These lepers have been suffering psychologically, physically and emotionally. Because in the Jewish tradition, leprosy defiles a man, then renders him an outcast.
So, once the person is healed, he must go to a priest to certify that He is clean for acceptance back into the community.
In His love, Jesus heals them all. Then, Among them, only one came back to thank Him and Jesus began to ask about the whereabouts of others.
It is not that Jesus will receive special favour if we thank Him, but He uses this to underscore the importance of thanksgiving in our lives as children of God. It is part of what we ought to do; to give God thanks daily.
The Key Points
1.The bible says that the other nine are jews while only one is a samaritan. The presuming point here is that the person who we do not even expect to show up is the Samaritan.
The Samaritans have long-standing dissension with the Jews. So, we do not expect the Samaritan to show up but yet it is Him that approaches Jesus to thank Him.
This shows that sometimes the people who will truly appreciate you for what you do are those who are not related or close to you.
Sometimes the people who are close to us, see it as an entitlement when they receive favour from us.
Only because they are your friends, many people feel so entitled to whatever they gain from you. Hence,they will hardly appreciate a pint you do for them.
sponsored
Instead of showing gratitude, many of them will see it that you are doing what you are supposed to do.
Many see it that you are doing what you ought to do for them and there is no need for gratitude.
Let us know it that nobody is owing anybody. If you gain, thank God, if you do not thank God too.
Secondly, what happened today in the gospel also shows that sometimes blessings can come from someone we do not even expect.
Do not take anyone for granted. That person who is a Samaritan to you, that person you reject today may be the one God places on your path to help you in life.
2. It is also a pointer that no matter how good you are to people that do not value you, they can never appreciate any single thing you do.
We can find these kinds of people in our families, relatives, friends and coworkers. Etc.
3. The Samaritan receives not just healing but blessing and salvation. Jesus blesses Him for coming back to appreciate and also proclaims that His faith has saved Him.
Therefore, Gratitude can open doors. Gratitude to God is more powerful than we can imagine. It gladdens the heart of God. But many times we take God’s blessings for granted and see them as a normal daily routine.
Does it mean that until we see God face to face doing them, then we will come to believe that God is the one that does them?
The truth is that just like we have the physical, we also have the spiritual and many things go in the spiritual that we do not see with our physical eyes.
Do we know how many times God has prevented something bad to happen to us both seen and unseen? Beloved it is time to say thanks to God.
4. Thanksgiving should not be forced. It is something that ought to come out of our minds freely. Many Christians wait until something happens to them before they thank God.
No! Thanksgiving ought to be part of what we do. You are what you are if not by His grace until we understand this, we have to tread with caution.
5. Sometimes, we spend most of our times complaining, grumbling, and doubting God. Instead of thanking, praising and letting Him know how grateful we are for the things He has been doing for us.
Like the nine other lepers, our only interest is asking and begging God to do this or that, and thus forget to give thanks. Giving thanks to God enriches us more and completes God’s favour on us.
6. Finally, Jesus asking about the other nine shows that He is interested in how grateful we can be to Him.
When we encounter problems, we become so desperately in search of solutions. We cry and fast that God answers fast. We even shout like the lepers and the woman in my story. But when God responds, we forget to say thank you.
Sometimes we even attribute the success to how powerful and good we are. Hence, we leave God to praise ourselves and human beings to the extent many today turn God’s worship songs in praise of human beings.
It is time to say thank you to God. Spend time to think about all the things that you have that others don’t.
Think about the years you have spent already in this world. We need to think about how we are where we are today. This calls for special thanks to God. Make thanksgiving part of your life.
May God bless you dearest and may our gratitude to God open more doors of favours in our paths. Amen.
You may read
Invite Jesus into the Temple: Feast of the Dedication of Lateran Basilica
The Gift that is Sacrificial.Sunday Breakfast with the Word
The Three Essential Guides to a Fulfilled Life
To serve God, We do what We ought to do
The Saints: Our Hope for the Future. Feast of All Saints
sponsored
