And one of them, realizing he had been healed
We are meant to realize what Jesus has done for us. He placed the seed of a new life in our hearts. He gave grace to transform us from slaves to sin into free sons and daughters of God. We can never be thankful enough for such gifts. Nor is it enough to simply say thank you and move on. As we grow in his grace, as our lives are opened to more and more of his promises, we see the seed he planted bearing fruit. There is more treasure in the gifts he already gave than we have yet realized. There is power for healing that is yet untapped. We are meant to realize these things in our lives and then be thankful.
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift
We have been given every spiritual blessing under heaven (see Ephesians 1:3) but we have not yet fully realized this, save some saints with better things to do than read this blog. Such ones would be in a state of constant thanksgiving at all God did for them. For us, we must first realize more deeply what God has done and continues to do in our lives. We must then prioritize thanksgiving.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
The secret isn't so much a self-directed introspection about all of the good things done by God in our lives. This is not wrong. But more important is an openness for God himself to reveal what he did and continues to do. It isn't simply an understanding of our blessings that we seek. It is one thing to know that sheer existence and life is given to us as a gift. It is something else again to realize it, to know that each sunrise, each blade of grace, each breath we draw is itself a gift we could never earn, one to which the constant repetition of time tends to make us dull, but which can again be realized as the new and fresh gifts they are so that we can return and give thanks.
Where did the other nine lepers go? Were they so caught up in living with the new blessings they received that they never thought to be thankful? Or were they so wrapped up in a negative mindset that they failed to even really realize what Jesus had done? In either case, may we not be like them. May we keep the space open in our hearts to realize what we have received and to be thankful.
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!
Let us give thanks with Paul for the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus. Let us realize more and more all of the ways in which we have been enriched: with all knowledge and discourse, with all spiritual gifts. Of course this sounds overstated for us. It sounds like a description that would only apply to the saints. But that is only because we haven't fully realized it yet. But that does not mean that isn't true. It just remains for our faith to take hold of it, to realize it, and to give thanks.
Then he said to him, “Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you.”
May our lives become taken up into the offering of the Eucharist, which is an offering of thanksgiving. May what our realization of and thanksgiving for what God has done deepen and become more continual. The more we embody this, the more we become a people of thanksgiving, the less fear will have a place in us and the more free we will be to trust in the one gives more than we could ever ask or imagine (see Ephesians 3:20).
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
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