All in the Choosing

My memory is short these days.  I joke and say that I gave each kid 25% of my brain and I am now either running on fumes or laughing gas.  Those 4 kids also stole all my amazing athletic ability.  But that's another story.

I have it all planned out.  My looney house, that is.  It is going to look just like the white mansion in the movie, The Notebook.  It will overlook water, of course.  Come see me in a few, ok?

In all seriousness, God takes forgetfulness ummm, seriously.  I am not talking about when I forget to throw in an extra diaper or take out the trash.  Instead, I am referring to forgetting His acts or not being openly thankful when I see Him in action. 

Sproul says, "All that we have and all that we are we owe ultimately to the benevolence of our Creator.  To slight Him by withholding appropriate gratitude is to exalt ourselves and debase Him."  I don't want to have a short memory when it comes to remembering all He has done for me.

Sproul brings up something I had never considered before.  He said that in the story of the ten lepers, most preachers will tell you how when Jesus healed them, only one was grateful.  He calls that nonsense because as a leper, you would have endured not just physical misery but isolation and rejection from all of society as well.

It only makes sense that all ten lepers were grateful!  I can envision them all staring at their cleansed skin, running home to embrace their families! 

Sproul says the difference is that only one leper chose to express his thankfulness.  Only one took the time to actually give thanks.  "Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks."  (from Luke 17) 

We should take the time to really pause and turn away from whatever holds our attention and offer up thanksgiving.  (Don't you know the thankful leper wanted to run home but instead took the time to praise!)

Make me a woman who remembers and blesses you continually, Father.  Your affection and grace toward me are everlasting.

"If God never grants us another glimpse of His glory in this life, if He never grants us another request, if He never gives us another gift from the abundance of His grace, we still would be obligated to spend the rest of our lives thanking Him for what He already has done.  We have already been blessed enough to be moved daily to thanksgiving.  Nevertheless, God continues to bless us." {from "Does Prayer Change Things? by RC Sproul}