Drawn from my archives
It was my son’s sixth birthday. The only one of his 29 birthdays I’ve missed. Since I was home with our newborn that day, Michael and his brother offered to host the party of eight. Eight energetic kids on the loose and full of sugar at a local arcade.
Apparently, after buying them lunch, giving them cake, and supplying them with a handful of tokens, Michael had a run-in with a six-year-old girl.
With hands on her hips and shoulders pulled back, she announced, “I demand more tokens!”
“It’s ungrateful, but not all that out of the ordinary for kids,” I told him. And the more I thought about it, I realized that ungratefulness is not all that out of the ordinary for adults either.
We’re all willing to pray for the things that we want, but few are ready and willing to give thanks for all things. Sure, we may thank God for the big stuff, but do we thank Him for the ordinary blessings we’ve come to expect? Do we thank Him in the midst of our trials? And, do we thank Him when life doesn’t go as we planned?
Billy Graham once said, “A spirit of thankfulness is one of the most distinctive marks of a Christian whose heart is attuned to the Lord.”
Turning my Bible to Luke 17, I find the story of ten lepers who cried out to Jesus. “Master, have pity on us!” they said.
And while He healed all ten of them, only one returned to give thanks. Only one was faithful enough to return.
We all want something from God, but how many of us simply want God? You see, there’s a difference between being healed, and being whole. All ten were healed, but only one was truly made whole by both the inward and outward cleansing through faith.
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Tilling the Soil
Read the story of the Healing of the Ten Lepers in Luke Chapter 17:11-18.
Planting Hope
Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, KJV)
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About the Author
DARLENE SCHACHT is an award-winning and NYT best-selling author. She is the founder of Time-Warp Wife Ministries, an online publication that encourages women to live Christ-centered lives.
Her passion for scripture and hunger for truth is the driving force behind a unique ministry that offers Bible studies and daily marriage prayers. Darlene is joined by her husband Michael on the daily podcast “5-Minute Marriage.”
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