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; 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? 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.”
Two friends met each other on the street one day. One looked upset, almost on the verge of tears. His friend asked, “What’s wrong?” The other answered and said, “well, three weeks ago, my uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars.” The friend responded and said, “That’s a lot of money.”
“But you see, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and he left me eighty-five thousand dollars.” The guy answered back, “Sounds to me that you’ve been very blessed.” “You don’t understand!” he interrupted. “Last week my great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million from her.” Now the man’s friend was really confused. “Then, why are you so upset!?” “Because…this week I got nothing!”
We can often come to the point where we expect to get certain blessings that God never promised us, and when they do not come, it is easy to get bitter. As Christians, our lives should be filled with gratitude. There’s so much that God has already done for us! But there are times where we expect God to do things, or give us something that isn’t promised to us. When the moment comes and we don’t get it, what is our response? If God’s answer is yes, be grateful. If God’s answer is no, be grateful.
Gratitude is a forgotten and dying attitude. Which sadly, has long been difficult for mankind to express. A well known example of this is found in Luke 17. This account is unique to the gospel of Luke. Up to this point Jesus has been giving parable after parable, but what happens in 11-19 takes place on their journey to Jerusalem?
A real life example that we should take to heart. Gratitude is a lost art.
But we can learn what God expects of us from these few verses:
- Gratitude Is Not Conditional (11-14)
- Gratitude Must Lead To Action (15-16)
- Gratitude Is Uncommon (17-18)
- Gratitude Is Life Changing (19)
Ten were healed, but only one came back. And he came back because he realized that he had something to do. Jesus changed his life, and he couldn’t just leave and not show his appreciation. He HAD to turn back, because Jesus was his salvation!
I’d like to suggest that as Christian’s we ALL have a reason to turn back.
Eph. 2:4, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.“
God has shown His love, so let’s show our gratitude. You can do that by praising Him each day, because every day He is with us and is forgiving of our faults. Show God that you are grateful for what He has done by giving your life to Him. There’s no greater joy than trying to give back to a God that has given so much to us.