15One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" – Luke 17:15-18 NIV
What is so hard about giving thanks? Why are some people good at it and others seem not to care? Personally, I do not enjoy the feelings of indebtedness. I would rather be on the giving end than the receiving end. I love the feeling of helping others, but I do not like it when others help me in my hour of desperation. It is during those times that I feel really humbled and indebted. I have nothing to give back except my sincere gratitude. This is often truly humbling and it goes against my own self-sufficiency.
The story of the ten lepers that Jesus healed in Luke 17 teaches us some great lessons about thankfulness. The first lesson I learn is that thankfulness can be thwarted by an entitlement attitude.
Remember, Jesus healed all ten lepers, but only one returned to give thanks. The one who returned Jesus identified as a “foreigner.” This means that the other nine were “Jews.” Could it be that the other nine, being Jews expected no less than to be healed? They expected no less than for the Jewish Messiah Himself to bless them – after all they are Jews just like He was. Not only this, but they expected to be healed and bless because as Jews, they are the “chosen people of God.”
I believe the nine who were Jewish, had such an entitlement attitude that even after they got healed, no ounce of thankfulness was found in them – at least not enough for them to turn back in humility and say “thanks” to Jesus. They expected no less!
This same kind of entitlement can happen to us as well. We can find ourselves feeling entitled if we hold a key position in a church, such as a leader or a generous giver. We can feel entitled if we sense that our holiness is more pleasing to God than the next person’s. We can have a sense of entitlement if we feel that God loves me more than He does the poor sinner on the street.
Often when I am in my car driving and I stop to let someone into my lane, I notice that some do not even acknowledge me with their thanks or give a wave of their hand. They just pull right on in as if they are entitled. Shamefully my immediate response is, “What a huge mistake I just made in letting that person in!” I know the feeling of this so when someone let’s me into their lane, I go all out in making sure that person sees me by giving a wave of thanks or a smile on my face, or I flash my tail lights.
I have also noticed that entitled feeling people are often joyless. And this does not surprised me because when you expect certain things to happen, then when it does, thankfulness which is tied closely to joy is not something one wishes to give away. You see, being thankful and expressing it, instills in us a sense of vulnerability that some do not want to show. The devil’s tactic is to get us to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. So what we do is try to elevate ourselves to God’s level (pride), and if that does not work too well, then we try to bring God down to our level (idolatry). Either form of entitlement is devil inspired.
I have also noticed that the entitlement spirit does not want to contribute very well. Did you notice how the nine simply left and never returned? They got what they wanted and now they’re gone. In the church, the entitlement people are the ones who do little to nothing. Service, work, sacrifice and effort is beneath them. They come to church to be blessed or receive – this is their entitlement.
I had one of our youth ask me what I am thankful for. My answer came quickly because I have thought many times about such things. I replied: I am thankful for God’s mercy, because He has not given to me what I do deserve (punishment); and I am also thankful for God’s grace, because He has given to me what I don’t deserve (favor and blessings).
Am I entitled to experience God’s wrath? You bet I am. I have failed God in my sins and have lived a life contrary to His holiness. I deserve His wrath, but I did not get it. Am I entitled to God’s grace? No way. Why would God bless a sinner like me? But in His loving manner He has.
This is the reason why I can go around with a thankful heart and visible expressions of joy is because I am not entitled to anything from God apart from what God grants me through His Son, Jesus! In and of myself, I am entitled to nothing but hell and separation from God.
So when I receive an unexpected blessing from the Lord, through others or directly from God, I am so grateful and joyful because I am so unentitled.
I believe the bible was written exactly the way God intended it to be written. I say this because, it was no mistake that Jesus used the number 10. And it was no mistake that only one of the ten returned to give thanks. This could very well imply that out of every ten people, one will be truly thankful while the other nine have an entitlement mentality.
Which company do you fit in?
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