Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
Luke 18:43
Sometimes it’s the little things that make a difference. The other Saturday morning I was sitting at my desk doing some work whilst Claire, my wife, popped out to the little Tesco Express down the road to buy something for lunch. She returned not just with lunch, but also with a bag of sweets for me. A small gesture, and one that did not cost a great deal of money, but very thoughtful of her, and it made working a little more pleasant. I’m pleased to say that on that occasion I was very grateful and thanked Claire very much. I’m ashamed to say, however, that there are plenty of times when I don’t respond appropriately to things that people do for me, sometimes because I’m busy, sometimes because I’m distracted, sometimes because I mean to but never get round to it. This is incredibly bad on my part.
In our reading today we meet a blind beggar who is given his sight by Jesus. He has complete faith that Jesus can make him see, and his faith is rewarded. He is so overcome by what Jesus has done for him that he follows him, praising God. The miracle and the blind man’s response to it lead to other people praising God too. There are no fewer than three important points here, I believe. Firstly, I wonder if we stop to show our gratitude to Jesus for all the things he has done, and continues to do, for us? Secondly, I wonder if we praise God sufficiently on recognition that all the great things we have (including the gift of sight) all come from him? And fourthly, are we aware that when we praise God this can have an enormous impact on those around us, and might lead them also to praise God?
Let’s make a point today of being thankful, giving thanks to God for his goodness, but also remembering to show our gratitude to the people who show us kindness. Let’s try to praise God throughout our day. And let’s make a point of displaying our love of God to those around us.