I was engaged to the girl of my dreams. Life was good. But my career in real estate was anything but solid, and that made the prospect of marriage a little unnerving. I was walking through a building I was in the process of listing, and across the street was the jewelry store where I had bought the engagement ring.
The ring was a hit with my fiancé. I literally was marrying the girl next door, and the jeweler was our neighbor, too. So the jeweler knew my wife, and he went the extra mile to help craft the perfect ring. And that’s what it was– a perfect ring for the perfect the girl.
I hadn’t seen the jeweler since the big proposal, and when the property showing concluded, I was in a hurry to head back to the office. But since I was just across the street, I decided to stop in real quick, tell him the engagement story, and say “thanks” for the engagement ring.
Did I mention that I had pretty good reason to be in a hurry and get back to work? I had spent almost every last cent I had on the ring. I was pretty much broke with a commission-only job and still had to figure out how to pay for the honeymoon.
But I came back to the jewelry store to say thanks. I told the jeweler that I was across the street to list the building for sale, but wanted to tell him how much my fiancé liked the ring and how appreciative I was of his help. I recounted the engagement story.
Then the conversation took a surprising turn. The jeweler asked, “So you were showing the vacant shop across the street?”
“Yep.
“How much are you listing it for?”
“Why, are you interested in the building?”
“I want to make sure the business that goes in there puts out a positive image. I want to protect the value of my store.”
The conversation turned into a sale. Not just any sale. It was the first time I made a double commission since I represented both sides of the deal. And despite all the extra effort and all the prospecting I was doing at work, this sale began effortlessly by taking time to say thanks.
Luke records a story about Jesus healing ten lepers.
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pit on us!”
When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well” (Luke 17: 11-19).
For some reason, thanksgiving is often not part of our DNA. Whenever I read this story, I’m surprised that only one healed leper came back to say thanks to Jesus. But then again, when I look at my own life and how God has blessed me, I realize that I’m usually like the nine who took their blessing for granted. How fortunate that I stopped to thank my jeweler friend, what way to learn this lesson of giving thanks!
Let’s live thankful lives. Let’s have a thankful song in our hearts. “Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song” (Psalm 95:2-3). I’ve been humming a couple songs that remind me to give thanks.
- “When I think about The Lord, how he saved me, how he raised me, how he filled me with the Holy Ghost, how he filled me to the uttermost, it makes me want to shout, ‘Hallelujah, thank you, Jesus’”.
- A few years ago in the CD age, my favorite worship song was “I Will Not Forget You”– still a cool song and worth a download. It’s chorus cheered, “A grateful heart I give, a thankful prayer I pray, a wild dance I dance before you. A loud song I sing, a huge bell I ring, a life of praise I live before you.”
- A few decades ago, when I was a kid, I listened to the “Donut Man,” which was basically a gospel version of the Wiggles– I don’t suggest downloading it unless you want it stuck in your head. “Thank you, thank you, don’t forget to say thank you. Don’t forget to say, don’t forget to say, don’t forget to say, ‘Thanks.'”
We have so much to be thankful for. We are all spiritual lepers healed by God’s touch. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” (I Chronicles 16:34). We are all sinners saved by grace, and God calls us to a lifestyle of thanksgiving. “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).
A postscript to my ring story– the commission wasn’t quite enough to pay for the ring, but it was almost the exact amount to pay for the honeymoon…and we lived happily ever after.
Thank you, Jesus!