This coming weekend friends and family gather to celebrate Thanksgiving. As I reflect on that statement it’s rather silly, isn’t? I should say that this coming weekend friends and family will gather together to eat turkey because every day should be “thanksgiving”, right?

It’s interesting how we set aside one day in the year to stop and be thankful and I suppose it’s a good thing we do. We are so blessed in so many ways that we can begin to take those blessings for granted. I read a quote once that said that “if the stars came out only once a year, everybody would stay up all night to look at them.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson BTW).

How true. We’ve seen the stars so often I wonder how many of us ever bother to look at them anymore.

It’s easy for us to be like that. We can become so used to our blessings that we lose our sense of gratitude. If you are a parent, you know what I mean. Caring for children can be thankless. Cooking, cleaning, shopping, driving them here, there and everywhere and seldom a “thank you”. They just move on to the next thing. And yet I would bet if you were to ask your children if they appreciated you (and if they actually stopped to think about it) they would say “of course,” with only a little eye rolling. How nice if they would stop, come back and express it sometimes?

I love the story in the gospel of Luke where Jesus healed the 10 lepers because it’s a great reminder of the importance to take time to go back and give thanks.

After Jesus heals the ten, Luke continues his description of the miracle by pointing out that only one of the ten came back to Jesus to say “Thank You.” Coming back is not popular. The majority (ninety percent of the lepers) kept on going. They were probably VERY grateful to Jesus for giving them their lives back. They were just too busy moving forward to take a moment to look back and say thank you to the one who got them there.

I would like to think that I would be ONE that returns. Wouldn’t you? The one that falls at Jesus’ feet and says, “Thank You.” But, like the nine lepers, I wonder if I would run off to hug my family first, or celebrate with my friends. I am sure like the nine I would tell anyone who would listen about Jesus and how He restored my life, but would I go back and thank Jesus first? Would you?

We have all been so blessed. A right attitude about what we’ve already received can produce unimaginable benefits in the future.

Let’s be the one that comes back to Jesus’ feet this Thanksgiving (and every day) and say “Thank You.” It will be worth the time it takes.

This Sunday we conclude our series entitled Being a Good Neighbour. This week we will be focusing on loneliness and how we love the lonely.

Please be sure to carve out time this weekend to join us in worship. We are called to worship God in Community… your presence among us is so important. Please come and as always, bring a friend!