If you woke up this morning and only had what you thanked God for yesterday, what would you have? This question was posed to me a little over a year ago. On that specific day, I would have had nothing, not even the clothes on my back.

I was going through a traumatic time in my life, a lot of “I don’t understand why this happening to me God” prayers and not a lot of thankful prayers. A lot of crying and pleading my case and not a lot of gratefulness for the peace God was planting in my heart. I think a lot of us find ourselves in this same situation. We are begging and pleading our case and not realizing how blessed we truly are, even in situations that are less than ideal.

Ten men found themselves in a less than ideal situation. They were outcasts, diseased, and considered unworthy of even living. Lepers were shunned by everyone in the community. Until the fateful day that compassion met them where they were and showed them the love they hadn’t received in many years.

Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem when He came across the men. They had heard the rumors and they knew who the man was traveling with His disciples. “He can heal us,” they said to each other. With an act of faith, they called out to Jesus to pity them. And Jesus had pity. He looked upon them with compassion, told them to go to Jerusalem and show themselves to the priest as was the custom of Levitical Law (Leviticus 14). On the way to the priest, all ten of them were healed!

Only one of them looked down at his healed skin and shouted for joy. He began praising God and ran back to Jesus, throwing himself at His feet thanking Him profusely. A Samaritan thanking a Jew for healing him, Jews and Samaritans did not intermingle and were not on speaking terms. Jesus looked around and said, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:17-18)

Stop and think about that question. Only one person returned to thank Jesus for healing him. Only one was grateful enough to return and praise the one who healed him. You can almost hear the disappointment in Jesus’ voice as He asked the question—Why only one?

Stop and make a list of ten things you are grateful that God has done for you. After you have made your list, go back and put a star next to the ones you thanked the Lord for yesterday. Are you disappointed with yourself or have you been working from a grateful heart lately?

I’m not telling you to sit in prayer and list everything you are grateful for every day. That would be tedious and boring for both you and God. But approach the throne of God with praise in your heart and gratefulness for each of the blessings He bestows upon you every day. I thank Him each day for everything He has blessed me with, specifically my husband and my son. If I have God, my husband, and my son, then I have everything I need. All my other needs will be taken care of if I just have these three people in my life.

We can always bring our concerns and disappointments to the Lord. He wants us to come to Him for comfort, but we need to approach Him with a heart of thankfulness for what He has blessed us. This needs to be a daily occurrence. Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Rejoice! Pray! Give thanks! Words for each of us to strive for every day!