Eucharisteo

On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 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. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:11-19 ESV)

I just finished chapter two of Ann Voskamp's book titled, One Thousand Gifts, and I must say that her book is soaring up into my top five of all time. In chapter two, Ann discovers what she describes as the mystery of the fullest life. In a word - Eucharisteo. Eucharisteo is a greek word meaning to give thanks or to be grateful. Ann describes it as life-filling gratitude. Life-filling?

How many of us believers who have been saved still feel empty or incomplete? Could it be that some of us have never experienced the completeness of our salvation because we never turned back to fall on our faces at the feet of Jesus thanking Him? "Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if not with thanksgiving? Thanksgiving is the evidence of our acceptance of whatever He gives. Thanksgiving is the manifestation of our Yes! to His grace." (Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts)

The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me. (Psalm 50:23 ESV) As John Piper puts it, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him". This was that first great sin in the garden. Man was discontent, unsatisfied and therefore ungrateful. The same is true of us today. We are discontent people and are therefore ungrateful. Our eyes are blind to the grace all around us because we consume ourselves with that which we are lacking rather than what's been abundantly given. May we stop this moment right where we find ourselves and turn back to give thanks for the abundance of grace thats been given to us.

I'll conclude with this challenge. I believe Ann presents it in the book, and I've been presented with it through a class on prayer that I am currently taking. May each of us begin to compose a running list of ALL the things in everyday life that we are thankful for and daily add to this list. To give an example, today I was thankful for the excitement in Asher's eyes when we pull into Chick-fil-a. "The only place we need see before we die is this place of seeing God, here and now." (Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts)

With peace thanks to Jesus my Everything,

Terry