LUKE 17:11-19 – On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
THEME OF THE DAY. ARE WE IN THE MAJORITY? As I was reading today’s scripture, I was confronted with a question – “Am I in the majority or minority among the ten lepers?” It wasn’t hard to determine. Sadly, I am way too often in the majority. What about you?
In the account of Jesus healing the ten lepers, the majority them – 9 of 10 – received a tremendous blessing of healing from the Lord and didn’t give Him even a nod of thanksgiving. They just went about their way with no words of praise, no gratitude, and no acknowledgement of the undeserved mercy Jesus gave them. Only one stopped, separated himself from the crowd, returned to Jesus, fell on his face, praising and giving thanks to Him. One. Only one. What a picture of how the majority of people, even Christians, are so self-centered and self-focused we fail to live with praise and thanksgiving over the daily and abundant acts of God’s grace in our lives.
Think about it for a moment all the reasons we have to live in a constant state of thanksgiving to the Lord. The air we breathe, the health we have, the places we live, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the ability to think, touch, feel and smell given to us, the relationships in life . . . and like the Energizer Battery Rabbit . . . it goes on and on and on! In the course of just one day, I wonder what the result would be if we took a scale and placed on one side all the things we complain about, and then on the other side, all the times we gave thanks to God for His rich blessings. That would be a good exercise for every Christian to do. It would tell us much about our spiritual lives. And that leads to this serious reality. If we are in the majority of the lepers – not giving thanks – no matter what we say, think, or believe, we are Christians void of being filled, controlled and walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. What a thought! To think we are living the Christian life but all along are doing so in the strength of ourselves, not God’s Spirit. Here is the evidence of such sad truth because we lack the spirit of thanksgiving. We are going to close today’s nugget with the scripture telling us that one of the marks of Spirit-filled Christian is living in the spirit of thanksgiving. Give time today to ponder the Apostle Paul’s piercing words . . .
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:18-21).
PRAYER: “Father, I have so much to be thankful for, and yet, I live too often failing to live in the spirit of thanksgiving.”
QUOTE: “One of the signs of walking and being filled with the Spirit is a heart of thanksgiving.”