Thankful Hearts

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Our reading titled Thankful Hearts was written by Po Fang-Chia. Hansel Parchment was in a predicament. He caught the bus to the wrong place for his semi-final in the Tokyo Olympics and was left stranded with little hope of getting to the stadium on time. But thankfully, he met Trijana Stojkovic, a volunteer helping out at the Games. She gave him some money to take a taxi.

Parchment made it to the semi-final on time and eventually clinched the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdle. Later, he went back to find Stojkovic and thanked her for her kindness. In Luke 17, we read of the Samaritan leper who came back to thank Jesus for healing him. Jesus had entered a village where he met ten lepers. All of them asked Jesus for healing, and all of them experienced his grace and power. Ten were happy that they'd been healed, but only one returned to express his gratitude. He came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. Every day we experience God's blessings in multiple ways. It could be as dramatic as an answered prayer to an extended time of suffering, or receiving timely help from a stranger.

Sometimes, his blessings can come in ordinary ways too, such as good weather to accomplish an outdoor task. Like the Samaritan leper, let's remember to thank God for his kindness towards us. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Luke chapter 17 verses 11-19.

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice.

Jesus, Master, have pity on us. When he saw them, he said, Go show yourselves to the priests, and as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him, and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, Were not all ten cleansed?

Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner? Then he said to him, Rise and go. Your faith has made you well. Let's pray. Dear God, thank you for being so good to us and showering us with your blessings every day. Help us to live with a constant sense of gratitude for all you've done for us. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Toni Collier, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.