Dear Messiah,

Happy Thanksgiving!

As I think about Thanksgiving, I’m reminded of Luke 11 and a scene where Jesus heals 10 people who had leprosy. This was a horrible, uncurable disease. Yet, Jesus completely changed their lives as he healed them.

But, as the scene progresses, only one of the people who was healed returns to give thanks to Jesus. The others just go their way and continue with life. They were too busy with life to pause and give thanks to Jesus, who had just given them a miracle.

It’s easy for us to be surprised by the nine lepers who just keep going and don’t stop and give thanks. We might even be tempted to judge them, thinking “How ungrateful. If that happened to me, I would surely stop and give thanks.” But, if we’re honest with ourselves, we often move through life at such a fast pace, that we forget to give thanks too.

Think about your own life. Stop. Pause. Take a moment to truly look at your life. What do you have to be thankful for? I’d imagine, it’s quite a bit, especially if you look at the little things.

In my life, it’s often necessary for me to be forced to stop and realize just how much God has done for me. Even the small things like the ability to eat dinner with my family. Or time to catch up with a friend over the phone who I haven’t talked to in a while are things to be thankful for. God surely is good and continues to guide and protect us.

This Thanksgiving, I encourage you to not get caught up in the hustle and bustle of preparing all the food and welcoming all the family. Rather, stop, pause and look at the little things in life. And give thanks to God, for He is good.

God’s Peace, Pastor Mark