Return with Thanks

Daily Scripture Threshing for Today, Thursday, November 20, 2025

Today's Text: Luke 17:11-19

Key Verse: Luke 17:15-16 (KJV): “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.”

Today, the Lord calls us into the rich lesson of returning to thank God for any blessing or kindness received. In the journey of ten lepers cleansed by Jesus, only one turned back after healing—only one remembered gratitude as the rightful response to God’s goodness. That returning heart teaches us that thanksgiving is not an add-on, but the culminating act of a miracle received. Our wholeness is not just in the blessing, but in the posture of thankful worship we bring back to the Giver.

So often we are quick to call in our need, but slow to return in our gratitude. The nine were healed, but only the one was made whole—body and soul—at Jesus’s feet. No miracle or blessing is complete or perfect at the reception, they only are, at the appreciation. True thanksgiving moves us beyond the relief of answered prayer into deeper relationship with Christ Himself. To be made whole is to return with thanks, to glorify God publicly, and to recognize that every gift is a signpost to the Giver’s love.

Why does the Lord pay such close attention to our thankfulness? Because gratitude aligns our hearts with heaven and marks our life as a testimony. Thanksgiving is the gateway to continued blessing, the acknowledgment that we are never self-made, but graced and sustained by God’s mercy. In returning, we worship; in thanking, we deepen our intimacy with the Master who heals, restores, and transforms.

Choose today to be the “one” who returns. Let thanksgiving become your spiritual reflex, not just in public breakthrough but in every quiet mercy. In doing so, you honor the saving work of God, affirm and edify the community of grace, and set yourself apart as one who recognizes that all good comes from above. Embrace the power of returning with thanks. For followers of Jesus, gratitude is not a formality—it is wholeness, worship, and witness. Let us return again and again, hearts full, voices lifted, lives surrendered in grateful awe.

Action Steps: Recall times God answered your prayers or rescued you from difficulty. Return in spirit to those moments, intentionally offering heartfelt thanks. Cultivate a daily discipline of gratitude, naming God’s goodness in your life. Whenever you experience breakthrough, let the first impulse be to turn back in worship and thanks, reflecting the heart of the Samaritan leper.

Quote for the Day: “Where thankfulness returns, miracles are retained, and hearts are made truly whole.” (Simon Olatunji #quotablequote)

Let Us Pray: Gracious Heavenly Father, Oh how I thank You for all You have done, seen and unseen. Forgive me for the times I have run ahead in my blessing without returning with gratitude. Please help me each day and moment to develop a spirit that turns back to You in thanksgiving. Let my life be marked by gratitude, and help me to find the fullness and wholeness that comes only through worship and thanks. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Thank you for journeying in faith and thankfulness. For more encouragement, read: Psalm 103:1-5, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Colossians 3:15-17.

With all my love and prayers,

Simon Wale Olatunji, Ph.D.

Your Darling Bishop (DaBishop)

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