A Lifelong Habit by Andrew Hess on 11/24/2011 at 7:46 AM

Perhaps one of my least favorite stories in all the Scriptures is found in Luke 17. It’s the story of Jesus cleansing the 10 lepers. Jesus, on His way to Jerusalem, entered a village with His disciples and was met by 10 lepers. Seeing Jesus, they cried out to Him for mercy. Jesus compassionately instructed them to go show themselves to the priests. While on their way, they were cleansed of their leprosy. The story continues:

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:15-18, ESV).

I don’t know why this story bugs me so much. Maybe it’s the fact I was raised to always be thankful and write thank you notes from a very young age (thanks, Mom!). Or maybe it’s the troubling image of spoiled, ungrateful children at Christmas, tearing open gifts and never thanking their parents. Whatever it is, I never want to identify with these nine lepers. I want to be like the one who returned to worship and thank Jesus.

I recently came across an article in The Wall Street Journal suggesting that there are psychological, emotional and physical benefits to maintaining a thankful heart. Gotta love it when secular researchers find the Bible has had it right all along. No kidding!

Researchers have found that those who feel grateful have “more energy, more optimism, more social connections and more happiness than those who do not” and “they’re less likely to be depressed, envious, greedy, or alcoholics. They earn more money, sleep more soundly, exercise more regularly and have greater resistance to viral infections.” Man, if there were a drug that did all that, just imagine what people would pay.

I don’t pass along this research as your new motivation to live a thankful life, but I do find it interesting researchers are discovering just how beneficial gratitude can be.

One of the challenges of cultivating thankfulness is that it often can get shuffled to the back shelves of our prayer lives. If you’re like me, you tend to pray about those fires you need God to put out first and then about the things you need and want. If there happens to be time left, you might turn to what you’re thankful for. This is not what the Bible prescribes. I wonder, Have you ever made a list of things you’re thankful for? Have you ever literally counted your blessings?

I was blessed to have a mentor years ago who encouraged me to develop a lifelong habit of gratitude. He taught me to keep a thankfulness journal, a record designated solely for listing things I’m thankful for. I’m not really a “journaler” per se, but for years I’ve been writing down my blessings. Now, years later, it still stirs my faith to read back through and see the faithfulness of God throughout the past decade. I read and remember lessons God has taught me, challenges He’s walked me through and the ways that He’s met my needs.

I read and recall the time a friend helped fix my car, the summer God provided a job working at camp, tests and projects I never thought I’d finish, and the time a family invited me to live with them rent-free while I finished seminary. I read and can’t believe I ever dare complain about anything. God’s provision is most obvious when we stop and look for it. And nothing helps me stop and look like my thankfulness journal.

I believe that keeping this chronicle is slowly convincing my heart that I depend on God every single moment, that every gift and opportunity has come from His hand. Remembering my blessings is growing me into the type of person who doesn’t have to conjure up gratitude, but who, alongside the grateful leper of Luke 17, is prone to praise God with a loud voice, face to the ground. It’s a habit that has become precious to me, one I now commend to you. Perhaps the Puritan preacher John Boys put it best: “As the Lord loveth a cheerful giver, so likewise a cheerful thanksgiver.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Lifelong Habit by Andrew Hess on 11/24/2011 at 7:46 AM

Perhaps one of my least favorite stories in all the Scriptures is found in Luke 17. It’s the story of Jesus cleansing the 10 lepers. Jesus, on His way to Jerusalem, entered a village with His disciples and was met by 10 lepers. Seeing Jesus, they cried out to Him for mercy. Jesus compassionately instructed them to go show themselves to the priests. While on their way, they were cleansed of their leprosy. The story continues:

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” (Luke 17:15-18, ESV).

I don’t know why this story bugs me so much. Maybe it’s the fact I was raised to always be thankful and write thank you notes from a very young age (thanks, Mom!). Or maybe it’s the troubling image of spoiled, ungrateful children at Christmas, tearing open gifts and never thanking their parents. Whatever it is, I never want to identify with these nine lepers. I want to be like the one who returned to worship and thank Jesus.

I recently came across an article in The Wall Street Journal suggesting that there are psychological, emotional and physical benefits to maintaining a thankful heart. Gotta love it when secular researchers find the Bible has had it right all along. No kidding!

Researchers have found that those who feel grateful have “more energy, more optimism, more social connections and more happiness than those who do not” and “they’re less likely to be depressed, envious, greedy, or alcoholics. They earn more money, sleep more soundly, exercise more regularly and have greater resistance to viral infections.” Man, if there were a drug that did all that, just imagine what people would pay.

I don’t pass along this research as your new motivation to live a thankful life, but I do find it interesting researchers are discovering just how beneficial gratitude can be.

One of the challenges of cultivating thankfulness is that it often can get shuffled to the back shelves of our prayer lives. If you’re like me, you tend to pray about those fires you need God to put out first and then about the things you need and want. If there happens to be time left, you might turn to what you’re thankful for. This is not what the Bible prescribes. I wonder, Have you ever made a list of things you’re thankful for? Have you ever literally counted your blessings?

I was blessed to have a mentor years ago who encouraged me to develop a lifelong habit of gratitude. He taught me to keep a thankfulness journal, a record designated solely for listing things I’m thankful for. I’m not really a “journaler” per se, but for years I’ve been writing down my blessings. Now, years later, it still stirs my faith to read back through and see the faithfulness of God throughout the past decade. I read and remember lessons God has taught me, challenges He’s walked me through and the ways that He’s met my needs.

I read and recall the time a friend helped fix my car, the summer God provided a job working at camp, tests and projects I never thought I’d finish, and the time a family invited me to live with them rent-free while I finished seminary. I read and can’t believe I ever dare complain about anything. God’s provision is most obvious when we stop and look for it. And nothing helps me stop and look like my thankfulness journal.

I believe that keeping this chronicle is slowly convincing my heart that I depend on God every single moment, that every gift and opportunity has come from His hand. Remembering my blessings is growing me into the type of person who doesn’t have to conjure up gratitude, but who, alongside the grateful leper of Luke 17, is prone to praise God with a loud voice, face to the ground. It’s a habit that has become precious to me, one I now commend to you. Perhaps the Puritan preacher John Boys put it best: “As the Lord loveth a cheerful giver, so likewise a cheerful thanksgiver.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

Comments

[1. Priscilla said the following at 8:30 AM on Nov 24:]

1

I once started a blog for this very purpose, though I haven't updated in a long while: theblessingcount.wordpress.com.

I still do keep a list on a long, narrow paper stuck on my fridge, to which I add an item every day. It's a good exercise that reminds me of all there is to be thankful for even in the hard times. It makes me more cheerful just looking at it!

[2. Becky said the following at 9:34 AM on Nov 24:]

2

I actually started keeping a similar journal myself recently. It's been a very difficult year for me, between an extended job hunt that isn't going well at all, and struggling very much with my singleness as I turned 30 this year. I'll confess I have a rather strong tendency towards pessimism, so I've been trying to write down 5 things I'm thankful for each day. Even if it's something as seemingly insignificant as, say, a cup of hot tea on a chilly day. I'm still trying to develop this habit, but I'm hoping that it will help me to refocus on the many blessings that God has brought into my life, rather than being fixated on those larger problems that just don't seem to end.

[3. Natalie said the following at 9:41 AM on Nov 24:]

3

Thanks Andrew! Some things are just so easily taken for granted until we don't have them anymore. What a great reminder of how great it is to be able to be thankful!

[4. ange said the following at 6:16 PM on Nov 24:]

4

Great post!! Really needed to read this today - Thank you God!

[5. Suzy Fetherlin said the following at 10:07 PM on Nov 24:]

5

Great article Andrew. I've been kind of amused by how everyone gets into saying Thanks, but only in November... It's like only spending time with God on Sunday morning... Gratitude expressed just for the holidays won't sustain you in a way that brings those wonderful (drug desired) effects you mentioned. Also, here are two other thoughts on thankfulness I've been pondering:Christ-less gratitude (i.e. For family, friends, food, shelter) is to be commended, but as believers we need to declare that every good and perfect gift comes from above. Second thought is this (from Tozer): a Thankful heart cannot also be cynical! Gratitude is the key to so much... It is the beginning to accepting Christ's atoning work, as well as the key to humbly walking with our God. May it be a daily practice lived out and not just last a short season during the holidays!

[6. Ann said the following at 3:32 AM on Nov 25:]

6

First comment ever in Boundless! Just wanted to say this post is very much aligned with what I need to hear right now, as with alot of other posts in Boundless. Thanks Boundless. I am also learning to be more optimistic since I struggled with that in the past.

[7. Sunny said the following at 9:35 PM on Nov 25:]

7

Great ideas and reminders, Andrew. Thanks.

I decided this morning when I woke to make it a point to be more thankful than I have been. I didn't take much time to give thanks during the Period of Giving Thanks that seems to start in November and lasts until Thanksgiving Day. But, it's never too late to be more thankful than ever!:) I keep a personal journal, but I think having a journal set aside just to count my blessings will help me to see them as a seamless record of God's goodness.

[1. Priscilla said the following at 8:30 AM on Nov 24:]

1

I once started a blog for this very purpose, though I haven't updated in a long while: theblessingcount.wordpress.com.

I still do keep a list on a long, narrow paper stuck on my fridge, to which I add an item every day. It's a good exercise that reminds me of all there is to be thankful for even in the hard times. It makes me more cheerful just looking at it!

[2. Becky said the following at 9:34 AM on Nov 24:]

2

I actually started keeping a similar journal myself recently. It's been a very difficult year for me, between an extended job hunt that isn't going well at all, and struggling very much with my singleness as I turned 30 this year. I'll confess I have a rather strong tendency towards pessimism, so I've been trying to write down 5 things I'm thankful for each day. Even if it's something as seemingly insignificant as, say, a cup of hot tea on a chilly day. I'm still trying to develop this habit, but I'm hoping that it will help me to refocus on the many blessings that God has brought into my life, rather than being fixated on those larger problems that just don't seem to end.

[3. Natalie said the following at 9:41 AM on Nov 24:]

3

Thanks Andrew! Some things are just so easily taken for granted until we don't have them anymore. What a great reminder of how great it is to be able to be thankful!

[4. ange said the following at 6:16 PM on Nov 24:]

4

Great post!! Really needed to read this today - Thank you God!

[5. Suzy Fetherlin said the following at 10:07 PM on Nov 24:]

5

Great article Andrew. I've been kind of amused by how everyone gets into saying Thanks, but only in November... It's like only spending time with God on Sunday morning... Gratitude expressed just for the holidays won't sustain you in a way that brings those wonderful (drug desired) effects you mentioned. Also, here are two other thoughts on thankfulness I've been pondering:Christ-less gratitude (i.e. For family, friends, food, shelter) is to be commended, but as believers we need to declare that every good and perfect gift comes from above. Second thought is this (from Tozer): a Thankful heart cannot also be cynical! Gratitude is the key to so much... It is the beginning to accepting Christ's atoning work, as well as the key to humbly walking with our God. May it be a daily practice lived out and not just last a short season during the holidays!

[6. Ann said the following at 3:32 AM on Nov 25:]

6

First comment ever in Boundless! Just wanted to say this post is very much aligned with what I need to hear right now, as with alot of other posts in Boundless. Thanks Boundless. I am also learning to be more optimistic since I struggled with that in the past.

[7. Sunny said the following at 9:35 PM on Nov 25:]

7

Great ideas and reminders, Andrew. Thanks.

I decided this morning when I woke to make it a point to be more thankful than I have been. I didn't take much time to give thanks during the Period of Giving Thanks that seems to start in November and lasts until Thanksgiving Day. But, it's never too late to be more thankful than ever!:) I keep a personal journal, but I think having a journal set aside just to count my blessings will help me to see them as a seamless record of God's goodness.