Thankfulness Brings the Supernatural

And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. Luke 17:19 (KJV)

There is something about thankfulness that brings God on the scene.

Luke 17 tells the story of the time Jesus healed ten lepers. All ten were healed on their way to show themselves to the priest, but only one returned to thank Jesus, and only this thankful man was made “whole” (Luke 17:19, KJV).

We can’t be sure what Jesus meant by this, but we do know that leprosy could cause the loss of fingers, toes and other extremities. Did this mean that the thankful leper was the only one who received a full restoration of all he had lost? Well, the word “whole” was translated from the Greek word sōzō, which means saved, healed, forgiven, delivered, abundantly supplied and made whole. In other words, the thankful leper received much more than just the healing of his leprosy!

Gratitude gets back much more than it gives. If you think about it, everyone wants to be around thankful people because thankfulness is so attractive. And thankful people are some of the happiest people I know.

Gratitude is also a key to sensing God’s presence.

Psalm 100:4 teaches us that you enter God’s presence through thankfulness. God’s presence is always with you if you’re a Christian. In fact, He lives on the inside of you! But you may not always be aware of His presence. Sensing God’s presence is amazing, but to experience this, you need to start with being thankful. And I’m not just talking about empty words. Gratitude needs to be heartfelt.

Take the time today to thank God from the bottom of your heart for who He is and for what He’s done.