Giving thanks is an essential christian attitude because it acknowledges the fact that all we have is a gift from God.When we come to pray and worship we do not give to God - we just give back to God a little of the time God has given us and just be present in thankfulness before him for the wonders of creation.

As always in scripture it is the outsider who becomes a model of gratitude and faith - just like Naaman the Syrian. As the ten lepers left Jesus' presence, perhaps disappointed that they didn't get an immediate response to their request but rather a long-winded route to a cure - they became aware of a transformation taking place in their hitherto disfigured bodies. Only the foreigner among them fully recognised where his healing had originated from and he returned to say 'thank-you'.

Gratitude is the discovery of the Giver.We often seek miraculous favours. Ten experienced healing - only one experienced salvation.What is of utmost importance is that we are able to "see" God at work in our life and realise God's salvation has no boundaries. We can miss the "kairos" - grace-filled moment, the "gift-filled now" if we do not have the readiness to "see".