“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.” Luke 17:15-16 NKJV

Don’t ride on “E”–empty. We must know when it is time to be full of faith and gratitude. Jesus often asks us to do something that requires faith. When Jesus responds to our faith, we must not forget to honor the Lord with gratitude. That’s what the ten lepers did who cried out to Jesus for healing.

• Luke 17:11-19 New King James Version –¹¹ Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. ¹² Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. ¹³ And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴ So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. ¹⁵ And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, ¹⁶ and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? ¹⁸ Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

Only one of the ten lepers healed returned to thank Jesus and give Him glory. Nobody owes us anything. Jesus didn’t have to heal the lepers. But they could have at least said thank you–not just one, but all of them. When was the last time we thanked God for saving us from that car accident, or that illness, or that dangerous situation? Everyone does not make it out of those situations alive. We must learn to be grateful for everything the LORD has done.

One thing we should always be thankful for is salvation. Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our sins. That is the greatest gift we could ever receive.

• Romans 6:23 New King James Version – For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• Hebrews 12:28 English Standard Version – Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,

No matter how dark our situation is, whether it is the death of a loved one or a personal tragedy, God calls us to give thanks. This is the will of God.

• 1 Thessalonians 5:18 New King James Version – in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

We must learn to be thankful for everything. Food, clothing, shelter and the basic necessities of life, which many of us enjoy, are all things we should be grateful for. An attitude of gratitude will change our altitude.

God elevates the grateful. Notice the leper who returned to give thanks received not just healing, but wholeness. The grateful leper was made whole.

Our attitude should be good because of WHO we have–the LORD Jesus–and not what we have.