I Owe You

Luke 17:11–19 KJV 1900

And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Ingratitude:

ungratefulness, thanklessness, lack of appreciation

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People were afraid of them. They were outcast, they didn’t belong, they didn’t fit in. So they conformed together. They stood at a distance because they were required to. So they cried out to Jesus for mercy. Jesus sort of yells back for them to go show themselves to the priest.

The Old Testament law required anyone that had any sort of disease, that once the disease was cured or went away, to go show themselves to the priest of that town and he would examine them and give them a clean bill of health. Then they could come back into the camp and join their families and friends again.

The priest in Jerusalem was a couple days journey from where they were. Which means that this was going to be a long, tedious journey.

This was a huge leap of faith. To make the long journey to Jerusalem, they have to commit to going to see the priest. But the problem was they were not healed yet. You only went to the priest after you were healed. So somewhere between here and there something had to take place. They felt as if they had nothing to lose and as they made the journey, they were healed.

Only one of them, when he saw he was healed, he turned back to thank Jesus. He comes back praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.

He went back to thank the one who had enabled him to move forward with his life. He thanked the one who gave him his life back.

All of us, no matter what we’ve accomplished, you worked hard, you were determined, you were ambitious, we can all look back in the rear view mirror of our lives and see that there are people who helped us along the way. We all have people behind us who helped us get to where we are now.

This guy went back to the one that allowed him to go forward with his life and he thanked him.

Then Jesus ask a question. Where not all ten cleansed? Then he asked, “Where are the other nine?”

There’s something missing, there’s something unfinished. You remember as a kid when someone gave you something and before you could enjoy it, an adult would ask you a question. “What do you say?” The adult knew that something is undone, unfinished and before you can do anything, there is something you must do.

Even if you feel thankful, you are grateful for what someone gave you or done for you, we often don’t express it.

The other nine may have felt it, but they didn’t express it. Every single relationship we have has to have this vital component to thrive. We have to have a spirit of gratitude.

Unexpressed gratitude communicates ingratitude. The gratitude you feel in your heart is also felt by the other person as ingratitude if it’s not expressed.

The gratitude you feel but don’t express is felt by someone else as the opposite: ingratitude.

Unexpressed gratitude is experienced as rejection. We take it for granted, it’s just my mom, she’s suppose to do that.

That’s what we pay him for.

That’s their job, they’re supposed to do that.

Often time, unexpressed gratitude has the same effect as rejection. The enemy will step in and plant seeds in the mind of rejection and feeling unappreciated. By nature, we gravitate toward acceptance and we repel rejection.

If not careful, we can ingratitude someone right out of our lives. It’s not enough to feel it, we’ve got to express it. It’s not enough just to think it, we’ve got to tell them.

We have to figure out a way to show them, to tell them, to express we are truly thankful.

Unexpressed gratitude may express selfishness. Is there something in you that just won’t say you are thankful? Could you have a selfish spirit?

Look at how we say it, “I owe a debt of gratitude.” Unexpressed gratitude is a debt that has yet to be paid.

Expressed gratitude closes the loop, it finishes the circle. Anytime someone does something for you, they deserve something from you.

Gratitude> It’s not enough to feel it, you’ve got to express it. It determines the course of the relationship. Are you going to be the one or are you going to be the other nine?

John 11:41 KJV 1900

Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

Are you going to be the one or are you going to be the other nine?

Ephesians 1:16 KJV 1900

Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

Co

Colossians 3:15–17 KJV 1900

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV 1900

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Who do you take for granted?

Who do you owe a debt of gratitude to?

Who are you grateful for?

Who needs to hear it?

Who do you owe gratitude to that helped you along the way or made an impact in your life?

"No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks"

“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” ― John Wesley

Philippians 1:3 KJV 1900

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

Philippians 1:3

"We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction." -H.A. Ironside

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!