Ponderings

May 16, 2012

  

 

Luke 17

Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy

¹¹ Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"

¹⁴ When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.

¹⁵ One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him-and he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷ Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?" ¹⁹ Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."

 

 

The focus of this scenario, of course, is the gratitude of the one who did return. What's important to know is that one who claimed healing had to present himself, herself to the priest for confirmation before being considered literally and ritually clean. For this one healed leper to stop in his tracks and return in gratitude to Jesus rather than rush to the priest for the ceremonial confirmation is inspiring.

 

In my November 23 devotional I quoted Edgar Guest on his marvelous poem on gratitude. Let me share it again.

 

Be grateful for the kindly friends that walk along your way;
Be grateful for the skies of blue that smile from day to day;
Be grateful for the health you own, the work you find to do,
For round about you there are men less fortunate than you.

Be grateful for the growing trees, the roses soon to bloom,
The tenderness of kindly hearts that shared your days of gloom;
Be grateful for the morning dew, the grass beneath your feet,
The soft caresses of your babes and all their laughter sweet.

Acquire the grateful habit, learn to see how blest you are,
How much there is to gladden life, how little life to mar!
And what if rain shall fall today and you with grief are sad;
Be grateful that you can recall the joys that you have had.

 

For me, one of the clearest expressions of our love for God is our heartfelt gratitude for how He has and continues to profoundly bless each of our lives. We don't deserve His grace, but He offers it. We don't deserve all our blessings, but He enables them. We don't deserve His present and eternal promises, but He makes them available.

 

There is no more fitting proclamation you and I can make than, Thanks be to God!!