I trust that you’re having a blessed week so far. Thanksgiving week is here already and I just want to share a brief message. I will draw your attention to the scriptures where Jesus heals ten men with leprosy.
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 17:11-19 NIV
In the midst of affliction, men turn to God. When people are in need of a miracle they turn to God and often times people group themselves together with others who have the same problems or those that are the same predicament. In the scripture, we see a group of ten men who need the same miracle of healing.
The compassions of Christ never fail. Christ hears the prayers or the cry of a sinner as long as faith is involved. When we are in trouble we look for God to meet us with mercy and we engage our faith because we are desperate enough to understand that faith is a requirement for the miracle to take place. Here, the ten men have enough faith to call on Jesus in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” They must have known that faith was a requirement for the healing of leprosy to occur.
Jesus hears their cry and tells them: “Go show yourselves to the priests.” (The priest had a responsibility to check that the leper is healed and to confirm that the miracle had indeed occurred). God has no problem giving us a miracle and He has given us plenty but how many of us come back to the House of God to testify? “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” (Luke 17:17) God knows exactly how many people He has given miracles.
Gratitude is an act of the genuinely humble heart. Unexpressed gratitude is ingratitude. God has been good to me, I owe Him thanks. Humility makes one realize that:
There is a God and He is above all
We have fallen short of the glory of God
He sent a Savior for us
Pride never appreciates the above. It is the humble heart that gives thanks. I urge you to develop an attitude of living thankfully to God all year long. Let your life be a life of thanks living.
