By Lydia Teh

The five-foot way outside my office is busy; the bank is next door and 99 Speedmart is a few doors away. Often the corridor would be strewn with receipts, food wrappers or cigarette butts. It’s a good thing the developer employs cleaners to sweep the area. One morning I bumped into one.

“Terima kasih!” I said with a smile.

The cleaner looked up in surprise.  Then her face lit up like a neon light bulb. Her grin stretched from ear to ear.

“Ee-ya.” She stretched out her “ya” into a sing-song acknowledgement of my thanks. I get the feeling that she hardly receives any gratitude for her work, and on the rare occasion that she does, it makes her day.

As Christians, thankfulness should come easy to us. There are many scriptures in the bible that exhorts us to be thankful such as:

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful” Col. 3:15.

^“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving” Col. 4:2.

In Luke 17, we read that only one out of ten lepers returned to thank Jesus for healing them.

^“So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?  Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” Luke 17:17-18.

But there is a deeper level of thankfulness which is more than just saying thank you to someone who has done something for us. It is a mindset, an attitude of gratitude so to speak.

I am reminded of sis. Helena. Just last week, I had the opportunity to visit her. Though she’s very ill, she’s a beacon of positivity and thankfulness for the love of God, family and friends. I am much encouraged by her.

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” Psa. 118:1.

Let us be thankful for all things (1 Thess. 5:18).