On His way to Jerusalem, Jesus encountered 10 men with leprosy. By law, people with leprosy were required to stay at least 100 paces away from the rest of society. So the men called out to Jesus from a long distance saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us”. They didn’t wait until they felt worthy to approach Him or until they had come up with the right words to say. They just spoke to Him from a point of desperation. Just 6 words, but these words were apparently backed with a great deal of faith. Jesus instructs them to go to the priests to prove that they have been healed and can re-enter society. And before the healing had taken place, the men were on their way to be inspected by the priest. Now that’s faith! The scriptures tell us that as they went they were healed. They must not have gotten very far, because one of the men, seeing that he was healed, turned back to thank Jesus. He threw himself at the feet of Jesus and began praising God in a loud voice. And Jesus said to the man, were their not 10 of you? Where are the other 9? Can you fathom receiving the gift of healing and not taking the time to thank the one who healed you? It seems inconceivable. Where was the gratitude?
I have a theory where the other 9 were. Instead of being in a place of thankfulness, I think they were on to the next problem. These men had been outcasts. They needed jobs, places to live and new clothes. So instead of stopping to thank the one who had restored their health, I think they were on to the next problem. Can you relate? I know that I can. Far too often when I recognize an answer to one of my prayers my mind moves on to the next problem instead of stopping to meditate on His faithfulness. I stay in the stress that I am accustom to instead of moving to a place of thankfulness and basking in His love for me.
Is there something you have to be thankful for? Maybe you have never experienced a physical healing but Ephesians 2 says that you were dead in your sin and HE made us alive with Christ! HE raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavily realms. If you are a Christian then you have received an eternal healing that brought you back to life from being dead in sin and that is a far more precious healing that a physical one.
Being thankful keeps our hearts soft and tender toward the Lord. When we neglect thankfulness to the Lord our hearts become hardened toward him and we lack grace toward each other. Take a moment today to consider what your eternal healing cost Him on the cross and thank Him for what He has done for you.
I am thankful with every thought of you,
Pastor Jonathan
