As words go, there’s no disputing their power.  Power to bless.  Power to curse.  Power to lift.  Power to deflate.  Power to change.  It’s all found in words; they are the spiritual containers that release everything.  If you’re reading this, you have experienced the power of words at some point and time, and I’d dare to say many times over.

Some words, however, are in a category all their own.  Two such words are: thank you.  That’s right.  Thank you.  Short and sweet–yet powerful and trans-formative–the phrase, “thank you”, is one of the most gracious things anyone can ever say or have said to them.  Why?  Because thanksgiving comes from a place of gratitude–a place of acknowledging something or someone for the value and blessing they’ve bestowed on you–often just because.  The opposite of thanksgiving happens, however, when we operate from a place of entitlement.  Then, instead of responding with gratitude and thanks, the temptation is to be nonchalant, ambivalent, or possibly even ungrateful.  And that’s a poor way to live.

To give thanks, and live a life of gratitude, we must train ourselves to take the focus off of us and place it onto those who come into our lives, whether for a moment, a season or a lifetime.  The cashier.  The barber.  The teacher.  The waitress.  Our loved ones.  Whomever they are, practice being more and more gracious to those God allows to cross your path–even to the point of offering thanks when it may not be warranted.  That’s true grace in motion.

If you’re tempted to think that I’m making much ado about nothing, then I want you to tell you this: thanksgiving means everything to God–and it can mean everything to you.  In fact, when you honor God–and others–through thanksgiving, it opens wide the funnel of blessing to overtake you, separate you from the common–and make you whole.

“And as he entered a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:  And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.  And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests.  And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.  And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?  There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.  And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” Luke 17:12-19

In this account, we see clearly that thanksgiving matters to God–and to us.  Although God poured out his healing on all the lepers who sought him, only one–a Samaritan, a stranger to the covenants of Israel, one not normally entitled to the blessing of God–thought enough to thank God for His goodness and glory.  You would think that those lepers who were Jews would have been racing to thank the God of Israel for this awesome work, but could it be that a sense of entitlement got in the way?

God noticed that there was only one of the bunch that was grateful enough to give thanks.  And in the end, He blessed him more, leaving him not only cleansed–but whole (with nothing missing and nothing broken!)  And for a leper, this likely meant body parts being restored and more.  He was separated from the common lot of the nine and elevated to a higher level of well-being!

So final takeaway: don’t ever discount the power of words, especially these two powerful words: thank you.