Saturday, February 23, 2008

 

How Will They Know Series

 

Luke 17:13 “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

 

Thank you God

 

It is easy to live life always expecting God to do things for us and never taking stock enough to be grateful.   In the course of Jesus’ ministry there was a time He was on the way to Jerusalem.   He was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.   He entered a village and 10 men with leprosy approached Him.   Leprosy in the ancient world was the most feared disease of its time.   If you had leprosy it meant, in essence, that your body would rot and degenerate while you were still alive.  Those with leprosy were quarantined from everyone else.     

 

People with that disease were forced to band together.  They were completely isolated by society.   Their families disowned them, they lost all their property, and their racial and national barriers broke down.  They were bound together strictly because they had this disease. In ancient times if a person had leprosy they were required to shout out to all who were near, “Unclean, unclean!”   The physical, psychological, and spiritual ramifications of being a leper must have been horrific.  

 

That day as the lepers approached Jesus, they stood at a distance and called in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”  

 

Jesus saw them and had pity on them and said, “Go show yourself to the priest.”  As they walked away a miraculous thing happened. Their bodies became healed.  They went to the priest and he declared them healed.   This was important because without the priest’s certificate they could not re-enter their life.  

 

I can only imagine how excited they were to be healed.   They could return to their family and to their life.   They could again see their family and friends.  They could experience being whole again.   Their physical pain would be over. They could jump and run.  They could interact with the crowd.   They had been dead and now they were alive.  

 

Only one of the people with this horrible disease came back to thank Jesus.   The Bible says, “He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.”   Jesus looked at him and said, “Rise and go; your faith has made you whole.”   

 

I wonder what we would do if God healed us in this way.   Would we too be so excited that we would forget to say “thank you.”   Would we be so happy that our words of thanksgiving would go unspoken?   God has done much for us.  He has given us life.  He may have interceded in our life in ways we can never imagine.   Maybe today is a good day just to thank Him for our healing, for our life, and for our blessings.  

 

I wonder if it hurts God that we are too busy to say “thank you.” 

 

Prayer:

Dear God, help me to be grateful.  Amen.