Come back for Thanksgiving

Do you know the story of Jesus’ encounter with the ten lepers? Because leprosy was contagious, people who had this potentially deadly disease were required to stay away from other people and to announce their presence if they had to come near. So, as Jesus entered a village one day, these ten lepers stood at a distance and cried out to Jesus to be merciful and heal them.

But after he miraculously cured them, only one returned to give thanks. 

You've seen it happen. People get what they've been praying for and then forget to come back and say, “Thank you” to the One who answered the prayer.

It’s happened to me. I've prayed for traveling mercies for loved ones, for instance, only to forget to thank the Lord after their safe arrival.

An answered prayer for travel safety doesn't seem nearly as dramatic as an answered prayer for deliverance from a deadly disease, but the principle is still the same: It’s easy to enjoy the gifts God has given us---in my case the loved one for whose safe journey I prayed---and forget the One to whom we prayed.

I know nothing about the faith of Ashoka Mukpo, who contracted the Ebola virus while working in Liberia as a freelance cameraman for NBC. But he seems to have a grateful heart. After being released from the hospital, he said, "I feel profoundly blessed to be alive, and in the same breath aware of the global inequalities that allowed me to be flown to an American hospital when so many Liberians die alone with minimal care."

Being grateful for the blessing of life is an everyday thing. So, the best way to make sure you express thanksgiving this Thanksgiving is to practice being grateful on a daily basis. Thanksgiving shouldn't be reserved for one day of the year. In fact, I believe that if people aren't grateful on days other than Thanksgiving Day, it’s unlikely they will suddenly wake up on the last Thursday of November with a grateful heart.

Giving thanks is really rather simple. Maybe that’s why it’s easy to forget to do it. We have to be intentional if we are to develop the habit of giving thanks.

Here’s my challenge to you:

If you aren't doing this already, practice giving thanks every day.

Here’s how it works: Begin and end each day by giving thanks. I mean, as soon as your feet hit the floor each morning, give thanks. I usually do this before I even get out of bed. Often, if I awake during the night, I’ll do it then too. I simply thank the Lord for the gift of life. I am, as Ashoka Mukpo put it, “profoundly blessed to be alive.” So I tell God how grateful I am.

I thank God in advance for the opportunities he will give me that day to bless others and make a positive difference in their lives.

Then at the end of the day, I thank the Lord for much the same thing: the gift of life and the privilege I've had to love others (even those who are not easy to love) and to be loved. Of course, there is a place in my prayer life for much more: I ask for forgiveness; I intercede for others; I sit quietly and meditate.

Here’s what I've found: Thanking the Lord each morning and evening invariably leads to thanking Him through the day. You will find yourself thanking God for the brown and orange colors of fall foliage, for the early morning fog, for the smile of a baby, the handshake of a friend, the beauty in a sunset, for the people who prepared your food and the land from which it came, for sleep and restoration.

The list for thanksgiving is endless.

Coming back for Thanksgiving isn't so difficult when you've enjoyed thanksgiving every day.