“Then one of them when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell at the ground at Jesus’ feet and gave Him thanks.”
— Luke 17:15
There’s a story about two men who were walking through a field one day when they spotted an enraged bull.
Immediately they began running towards the nearest fence with the storming bull in hot pursuit, but it soon became apparent that they weren’t going to make it.
The one man said, “Put up a prayer John or we’re done for.”
John answered, I can’t. I’ve never said a public prayer in my life.”
“Well, you have to now,” said the friend, “or we are finished.”
“Alright,” said John, “This is the only prayer I know.”
He cleared his throat, “O Lord, for what we are about to receive, make us truly thankful.”
People wring their hands today trying to figure out what is wrong with our society and I believe it is this; people have forgotten to be thankful to God. The verse above is part of the account of Jesus where He approached a village where ten seriously ill men came out to meet Him.
Ten lepers, ten dying, decaying, stinking wretches met Jesus and cried out “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”
So Jesus gave them a simple instruction. He told them to go back and show themselves to the priests. They left and at some point on the way there, those ten lepers were changed. Every diseased cell in their bodies began healing. You can almost picture them leaping, dancing and bounding down the road. But suddenly one of them stops dead in his tracks, turns around and begins running back to the man of Galilee who had saved them from this awful fate.
He came back, “Praising God with a loud voice, falling at Jesus feet and giving Him thanks.”
Only one of the ten.
So, here's the question: do we really understand how much God has blessed us with? Not one of us is hungry, not one of us is naked, we all have roofs over our heads, and all this is from the hand of God who created everything and graciously gives us what we need. But more importantly, God gives all who repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior, all of His eternal riches in Heaven. In Christ, He heals the leprosy of sin that afflicts us all and makes us eternally whole again. Now that is something to be truly thankful for!
Jesus said to the leper who returned, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
God’s physical blessings are showered down upon all people…but His true gift is the spiritual blessing of forgiveness and eternal life through faith in His Son. In Christ we are doubly blessed now and forever…amen
