Luke 17:15
“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,”
An amazing result happened in the story of the ten lepers. Jesus was going to Jerusalem when He passed through Samaria and Galilee. When He entered one of the villages, there were ten lepers who saw Him at a distance and cried out to Him to have mercy on them. Jesus responded by telling them to show themselves to the priest. When these ten men turned and started to go to the priest, their leprosy was healed.
The amazing part of this story is that one of the ten turned back to give glory to God and to thank Jesus for what He had done. This is sad because ninety percent of that crowd never once showed gratitude for their healing. These men were dying, yet they didn’t have the decency to turn around and give thanks. These men had no hope when Jesus gave them hope, and yet they wouldn’t take the time to turn back to be thankful. Only one of them, the ten percenter, took the time to be thankful and to give glory to God.
What is just as sad is that this is very much the same situation today. There are so many Christians today who have had so much given to them by God, and they don’t show any gratitude for what He has done. God blesses them with finances, homes, vehicles, health, and family and in return they skip church, never go soul winning and won’t get involved in the church ministries. Only the ten percenter seems to have enough character to be grateful to God for what He has done and to show their gratitude by getting involved in His work. Very few seem to have the character to take time on a daily basis to thank God for all that He has done for them.
Let me ask you, are you a ten percenter? Do you take time daily to thank God for what He did for you the day before? It doesn’t take much time or effort to thank God for food to eat, a roof over your head, clothes on your back and health to live a normal life. God is not asking for much; He is just asking that you show gratitude for His blessings. You can be a part of the ninety percent, or you can be a ten percenter.
Let me carry this over to being grateful to others for what they do for you. Let me encourage you not to be too proud or so ungrateful that you don’t thank others for what they do for you. It is so easy to overlook the small things people do that we forget to say, “Thank you.” Certainly, when someone does something big for us we will show our gratitude, but do you show your gratitude for the small things? Being grateful for what others do for you should not be a difficult thing to do. Saying, “Thank you” is the least you can do.
Let me encourage you to raise your awareness of the little things that others do for you. Let me challenge you to become a ten percenter. Let the words, “Thank you,” commonly come from your lips. Don’t become known as a person who is ungrateful for the goodness of others. If you take on the mentality that you don’t deserve anything then everything others do for you will cause you to be grateful. Every Christian should be a ten percenter. It is a command of God to be grateful, and it is simply the decent thing to say, “Thank you” when others do something for you. Take the challenge today to be a ten percenter for the rest of your life.