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grassroots
GRATITUDE FOR CALVARY
If we look at Luke 17:11-19 we will see that Jesus healed 10
lepers, but only one leper returned after he was healed to
say thank you to Jesus. What is even more interesting is that is pregnant with moisture and the trees are dripping with
the single leper that came back was not even a Jew, but
a Samaritan (a foreigner), and Jesus asked “Where are the
other 9?”
We as believers need to stop grumbling and complaining
so much. We need to start thanking God for His goodness
and His grace poured out towards each one of us. There is
an old saying that I read just recently which says, “Do not
grumble because you do not get what you want; but rather
be grateful that you don’t get what you deserve.” Not one
of us deserves to go to Heaven, not one of us deserves sal-
vation, not one of us deserves to meet Jesus Christ face-
to-face one day but because of His goodness towards us,
those of us who believe that He is the Son of God, will meet
Him in paradise and live with Him forever.
A man by the name William Tiptaft said, “God is pleased
with gratitude because He gets so little of it.” We need to
start to be grateful for what we’ve got and stop complain-
ing about what we haven’t got.
There is a story of a little boy who had no shoes and he
was continually grumbling to his mother about it. Until one
day when he was walking down the street, he saw a little
boy being wheeled down the street in a wheelchair and he
had no feet. From that moment onwards the little boy never
grumbled again.
I remember preaching in a Church in Johannesburg many
years ago and on the wall inside the Church, in bright neon
lights was written “Missionary work is gratitude for Calva-
ry.” I’ve never forgotten that. We don’t preach the Gospel
for anything else, but because we love Jesus and He has
called us to go into all the world and to preach the Gospel
to every creature (Mark 16:15).
As a farmer, I’m sitting in my quiet time room and I am lis-
tening to the gentle rain falling on top of my tin roof. The air
drops of rain - I’m so thankful.
Let us not take God’s blessings for granted, because not
one of us deserves anything from God. Let us rather be
grateful for every drop of rain that we have got. Instead of
saying “It’s not enough”, let us rather rephrase that com-
ment and say “God thank you for giving us the life support
we need by sending this gentle, beautiful rain.”
How can we show God in a practical way that we truly love
Him and that we truly are grateful for the promise we have
of eternal life, not because of our good works, but because
we believe?
We can show Jesus by telling others about Him. By telling
others with a positive attitude that Jesus Christ is Lord and
that nothing can happen to us without His permission. The
most grateful man that I believe in The Bible was Job, the
farmer. He was not a fair-weather Christian and he loved
God unconditionally. He refused to speak badly about God
and his very own wife said “Why don’t you curse God and
die.” Job lost everything, his possessions, his health and his
farm etc. but he continued to say in The Book of Job 13:15
(NKJV), “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”
That is gratitude and saying “Thank you Lord, I love You
unconditionally.” That is what God is requiring from you
and me this year; unconditional love, much gratitude and
thankfulness for saving and giving us an eternal future.
God bless
Angus Buchan