And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, …. Luke 17:15

Someone shared a story about a woman named Pam once worked in downtown Chicago. Every day on her way to work she encountered a heavy-set, middle-aged woman in a shabby coat, soliciting spare change in front of an old brick church. She greeted everyone with a smile and a pleasant, “Good morning!” Pam almost always gave this woman some change. After almost a year of this routine, the woman in the shabby coat disappeared. Pam wondered what had happened to her.

Then one summer day, there she was, once again, still in the same shabby coat. As Pam reached into her purse for the usual spare change, the woman stopped her. “Thank you for helping all through the last year,” she said, “I’ve got a job now.” With that she reached into her bag and handed Pam a wrapped package. She had been standing at her old spot waiting, not for a handout, but for the people she recognized as having helped her in the last year so she could give each of them a donut.

She came back because she was thankful. The Samaritan leper in Luke 17:15 also came back because he was thankful. As the New Year unfolds, let us come back before God’s throne with a sacrifice of thanksgiving instead of just asking for more. Let us begin the year like the woman in the shabby coat, and like the leper in Luke 17:15. Let us begin this year by thanking God profusely, for life, for this deep and abiding faith in Jesus Christ, for health, for family and friends, for a divine purpose in our lives, for work, food shelter and clothing and for every good gift that he has given us.

Have a happy, blessed and gratitude-filled 2023!