Luke 17:11-17
“Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 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?’“
Isn’t God good to us? Think about those whom you may know today, who are really hurting because of some sickness or mistreatment. This world is tough and life throws its curve balls at each of us. Yet in all things, God is good. Maybe you’re the one today who finds yourself gripped by some great concern. The outcome of your trial is already known by the Lord. He knows exactly why this pain has befallen you and what its intended purpose is. He knows precisely what you need to learn from this situation and that, in it all, there is a pearl of great price to be had.
Dear believer, when this trouble has passed and the sky begins to clear, will you be thankful to the Lord for what He has brought you through? In this passage of Scripture, we are taught that very few people are thankful to God for all He does. In the case of these ten lepers, they had been condemned to death by a slow, flesh-eating, all-consuming disease. There was no cure, except for a miracle. But that was exactly what Jesus had in mind. He simply told them to go to the priest and show themselves. That’s an amazing command for this great reason: as they obeyed Him in going, they were healed as they went! As they moved in faith upon Jesus’ command, they were restored and reintroduced to society. All ten were healed, every one of them. But only one is noted here for being thankful and considerate enough to return to Jesus to thank Him for His gracious work.
In your difficulties, don’t forget to stop and thank the Lord. In faith, you can even begin to thank Him now, in advance, for what you are going through because He will rescue you one way or another. He has not brought you this far to abandon you. You will not be discarded along the way. So don’t be like the others who take from God and then neglect to return to Him a word of thanks. Better yet, with confidence, praise Him in your suffering, knowing that He will heal you as you go. There will come a day that His ultimate healing will come to all of us – an awesome day, when we together will be healed of this world and enter heaven forever. Let’s thank Him for that now and by doing so here on earth, we will be ahead of the class up there in heaven.
– Pastor Jack
Have you been blessed by Pastor Jack’s Devotions? Email us now: CLICK HERE
