April 9
2019
But Where are the Nine?
Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.
And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. 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?” And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Luke 17:12-19
Sometimes we take our encounters with Jesus for granted.
These ten men encountered Jesus.
They found themselves healed as they followed Jesus’ direction and went to show themselves to the priests.
But only one returned to thank Jesus.
How many times do we encounter Jesus in our day to day life and keep on our merry way, without pausing to say thank you.
Many times I believe we experience God’s hand in our lives and we don’t even notice; but worse than that is when we absolutely see God’s hand in our lives and don’t take the time to glorify Him and the work He is doing in us.
The one man returned and thanked Jesus.
Jesus was astounded that only one returned – and this one was a foreigner.
I believe that we in the Church have become complacent with an air of entitlement; the thought abounds that Jesus will do it because we are His, without any understanding that this is a relationship we are working with not a piggy bank of blessings to be emptied without acknowledgement.
It is time to pray for our eyes to be opened to the hand of God in our daily lives – and a time to pray for our hearts to be softened and our gratitude heightened, that we would take the time to stop, thank and worship the Lord as He works in our lives.
Question for Discussion
What do you need to stop and thank the Lord for today? Make a list.