THE ART OF THANKSGIVING

He threw himself at Jesus’s feet and thanked Him – and he was a Samaritan. 

Luke 17:16  NIV

Imagine being leprous.  Imagine the shame, the scars, the fears, the worry, the guilt.  The loneliness and sheer need for help.

Leprosy is a devastating disease where your skin and body are slowly shrinking and being made incapable to doing much.  It’s a skin disease that not only eats away at the skin but at the muscle and bones as they become weakened by the disease.  It is caused by a bacteria and has a long incubation period before wreaking havoc on its victim.

During biblical times, anyone who was leprous was isolated from others and by the time of Jesus, folks who had leprosy were sent out to live by themselves in very poor and filthy conditions.

In Luke 17:11-20, we find Jesus on His way to Jerusalem where He encountered 10 lepers begging Him for His pity.  His response:

When He saw them, He said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”  And as they went they were cleansed.  Luke 17:14

Jesus had more than pity for them – He had healing.  Wow.  I imagine they were shocked!  The healing came after obedience.  It was as they stepped out in faith, they were healed.

Are you begging for mercy, begging for pity, begging for healing?

Has God given you something to do, but you have not done it?

Jesus told the lepers to go show themselves to the priests – it was a normal procedure after a cure (Lev 13:2-3; 14:2-32). Maybe the lepers clued in they were healed when Jesus issued the command, or maybe not.  At any rate, they went.

And as they went, they were cleansed.  They were healed.  They were done with the shame, the isolation, the ridicule.

I imagine the ten could not wait to tell their loved ones and their towns they were healed and they could resume their role in society.  They could be a part of family once again.

But, as we are told, only one returned to thank Jesus for the healing.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God, in a loud voice.  He threw himself at Jesus’s feet and thanked Him – and he was a Samaritan.  Luke 17:15-16

Only one.  Nine tenths chose to walk away from their Healer, The Healer and go their merry way.

Just moments before they were begging for pity, and now they were running for joy, but not giving the proper thanks for it.  Jesus made all the difference in the world for them.

But they missed out on a bigger blessing…

Then He said to him (the one healed leper), “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”  Luke 17:19

Not only was this leper healed of his disease, he was healed of his bigger disease – sin. His faith in Jesus, the One who caused this man to turn back with a heart of thanksgiving – his faith made him well, made him whole.

And he could not help but give thanks.

There are people who are healed – daily, weekly, hourly.  Some will give thanks to Jesus for this healing, but the majority will not.  Some will be so done with their affliction that just as soon as it is over, they move on with life, not turning back to give thanks to the One who made it possible.

Having been healed twice (twice, mind you), I know how easy it could be to not turn back because the temptation to race forward with the good news is quite strong.  To show the world that suffering is over.

But God wants us to turn back to acknowledge Him.  To give Him our thanksgiving with joy.

We receive the bigger blessing – forgiveness.

PRAYER

Father God, You are so amazing. You heal. You forgive. You provide. You give. You love. Thank You for all this and more. May I be a thankful person who chooses to thank, always.