"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you."
Let us return to Jesus with the Samaritan who was cleansed. We too we cleansed in baptism. We too our diseased. Our disease is sin. It keeps us separated from one another. Even within our own hearts we find ourselves lacking the integrity that only Jesus can give us.
We have received even more than the Samaritan. We have not only been cleansed and healed but we have received from Jesus grace upon grace (see John 1:16). We have been made able to call God our Father (see Romans 8:15) and to truly be his children (see First John 3:2). As children we receive the same inheritance that Jesus receives, the very Holy Spirit himself. Because we receive him we can be sure that we lack nothing
that in him you were enriched in every way,
with all discourse and all knowledge,
as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift
as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Do we feel like we do lack some of the spiritual gifts? Scripture disagrees. This isn't an isolated verse that tells us so. In chapter one of Ephesians we read that Jesus "has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places".
Step one is to realize how richly we've been blessed. First we should put things in perspective. We ought, if we can, to realize that the spiritual blessings matter even more than the material. But either way, once we take a look at everything with which we have been blessed we may well find ourselves breathless. Step two is profound thanksgiving.
And now, bless the God of all,
who has done wondrous things on earth;
Who fosters people's growth from their mother's womb,
and fashions them according to his will!
Even in difficult moments let us search for the blessings we are never truly without. Thankfulness can transform even more than our perspective in hard times. By being thankful for blessings received we show God that we are mature enough for him to continue blessing us.
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