Oct 26, 2018
By Donna S. Bond
“Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’” (Luke 17:11-19 NIV)
Jesus healed ten lepers; one came back to thank Him (vv. 12 & 15). Two thousand years later my dad gave a significant monetary gift to three grandchildren and four new high school graduates from his church; one wrote a thank you note.
I can’t begin to count the number of times I have mailed a gift to someone and never even learned whether it was delivered, let alone appreciated. Similarly, I have issued invitations and then figuratively “pulled teeth” to get a response from a good number of invitees. “If you don’t want to come, just say so!” I want to scream.
One day a Thanksgiving sermon with the above-named title prompted me to wonder: If I feel slighted when my good intentions are not acknowledged or accepted, how must God feel when we don’t accept or acknowledge His mighty gifts to us?