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Eucharisteo!
When Jesus performed a miracle, it was preceded with thanksgiving. "Father, I thank you ... " and the dead would be raised, the blind would see, the multitudes would be fed. Eucharisteo - thanksgiving - always preceded the miracle.
But there is more. Ten lepers where healed and one came back to Jesus with a thankful heart. Luke 17:17 tells us that Jesus spoke to the returning-thankful-cleansed-leper, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
Made him well? Jesus had just healed him! Young's Literal Translation states "thy faith has saved thee." Made well, in the Greek, comes from sozo. True it means to be 'well' or 'whole' but the literal meaning is 'to save'. Sozo means salvation true wellness, complete wholeness! When did the leper become completely whole? After he showed his gratitude.
Even the book of Psalms has an understanding that our gratefulness prepares the way for us to receive our salvation. Psalm 50:23, "He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God".
We need the fullness of our salvation to become free of hurt, anger, sadness, pain, fill-in-the-blank sin nature. We receive the fullness of our salvation when we are thankful.
Eucharisteo!
4 comments:
Lovely post. We are made better people in every way when we give thanks.The most thanks goes to our Father in Heaven.
So true! We have much to be thankful for.
Great post. We should be always thankful to God everyday.
This has been something the Lord has really been pressing on my heart lately. He says the best way to show our thanks is to forgive others as He has forgiven us. He loves me warts and all, and expects me to love others in the same manner, which is a tall order for me, one that I'm truly struggling with. It's easy to be grateful for the lovely things, but how about the ugly people that irritate the "you know what" out of you? You know what I mean? It's an area that He is revealing to me, how terrible I am in this "loving your neighbor (especially the unlovely ones) as yourself".
Thank you for the lovely posts. :)
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