Always Grateful (#250 of 365+)

Today’s devotional was like a huge buffet that I couldn’t consume in one sitting. Allow me to illustrate with the story Joni referred to about Jesus healing ten lepers.


Back then there were lots of laws about leprosy. The Lord had given priests the authority to diagnose the disease or issue a clean bill of health (Leviticus 13 and 14). When someone was declared unclean they had to leave the village to avoid spreading the disease any further. If someone approached, they had to warn that person by keeping their distance and crying out in a loud voice, “Unclean! Unclean!”… Lepers couldn’t visit family, offer sacrifices, or partake in any Jewish traditions or holy days. They lived outside of the Jewish community like outcasts who had been rejected by the Lord himself.

“As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, Master, have pity on us!’ When he saw them, he said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’” (Luke 17:12-18)

Why would a leper who had been healed not return to thank the One who healed him? Because leprosy wasn’t just a physical disease. It could leave deep social, psychological, and spiritual scars, too. They had lived as outcasts for so long under the law they couldn’t think about anything but getting back to their lives through that same law. But the leper who returned was different. He set aside the strict requirements of the law to do something more pressing—to give credit where credit was due. I believe God made him completely whole.

“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21)

Here’s another question: Why would someone not want to participate in the adoration of the One who saved us from spiritual death? Probably, much like the nine lepers who immediately ran to the closest priest, they’re still bound by the Law. They have yet to embrace the grace of God, his free gift… salvation by faith alone. A transformed life will praise and worship the Lord. But someone who still relies on their own works to get to Heaven hasn’t received the Holy Spirit yet, so they don’t have the capacity to glorify God.

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6)

Father God, thank you for completing all the work that I was never qualified to do. May I celebrate this Sabbath day of rest every day of my life. All the glory belongs to You! Amen.