Ten Healed of Leprosy - Being Grateful

11Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy^[a]met him. They stood at a distance 13and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"

 14When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.

 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?" 19Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." Luke 17:11-19

The service yesterday was mind-blowing, hearing from the Koreans, Japanese leaders’ convictions and gratitude really moves and convicts my heart. It’s always refreshing to hear from foreign speakers but yesterday was a very special time for the leaders there. It’s a time to celebrate your relationship with God and the friendship they had, and of course the unity between the different churches. I felt it’s really amazing to have brothers and sisters from different countries to have the same convictions and love for God and people in their countries. I thought how timely it’s for Takeshi to preach about the ten people healed of leprosy.

Sometimes I really took for granted the things that I have, especially the most basic things, like my hands to touch, to do work, my functioning brain, my almost perfect eyesight, my hearing, my limbs. And different relationships that I can enjoy, my wife, my mum, my friends, I thought the older I got, the more I felt these things are really important, but many times because of pride and forgetfulness, I often took these for granted and even cause much hurt to myself and others. I often need reminders from different things, or people or even God’s lesson to remind myself to really appreciate these things and people in my life. Ultimately, it comes down to praising the Creator, the one who allow all these to happens, gave these to me. I think as human we must always learn to be grateful for any small little things that happen in our life. It will make us feel more happy and positive about life, also more appreciative. Don’t wait till it’s too late to appreciate people you love, else whatever you do after that, it’s simply meaningless. I just thanked my wife and praise her for being serving last night when Yudai and Alex were at my house. She felt great and I also feel happy so isn’t it beautiful. So do something today. And if you want to thank someone that you are alive today, thanks God!