30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 17 11-19 Surrender, Thankfulness, Gratitude and Worship of God 07 One of them returned but what happened to the nine
📖 Luke 17:11-19
31Jul2020 - *One of them returned but what happened to the nine?* - _Luke 17:11-19_ - THANKFULNESS AND GRATITUDE TO GOD 7 – Bible reading: _I Corinthians 10:1-5_
_Luke 17:14-16 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. (15) And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, (16) and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan._
The ten lepers obeyed the instruction that the Lord gave them and they went. The Lord did not say, “Go and you will be healed”. He only told them to go, show themselves to the priests. They trusted and went and they were healed.
This incident took place in the north of the country, on the border between Galilee and Samaria. The priests were in Jerusalem, in Judea, in the south of the country. These lepers would have to skirt the whole of Samaria before they could enter Judea and then Jerusalem.
As they went, they were cleansed and one of them returned to meet Jesus. Jesus too was passing through that region. The fact that this one leper could come back and meet with Jesus, tells us that they would not have gone too far before the healing had taken place. Jesus too would not have gone too far from the place, where he had met with the ten lepers.
The nine lepers felt that it was a priority for them to travel the long distance to meet the priests at Jerusalem than come the shorter distance to meet Jesus, to thank Him.
What is this telling us about the nine lepers? Their priority was to now move on in life. God had solved their crisis and they now need to get back to 'business as usual'. They needed to get back to living their life. They needed to get quickly into the ‘new normal’. Does this sound all too familiar?
We are asking God to get this pandemic quickly behind us. We’re all quite tired of the lockdown. We are eagerly waiting to come out on the other side. We want to stomp in the ground of the new normal.
We’re not realising that God has allowed this crisis to the whole world for man to stop living his life but for man to choose God. God is life. Man, on the other hand, wants to go about living his life and wants God to clear the mess for him. We have not yet reached the place, where we realise that life is only in God. We have not yet come to rest in Him.
God is longing for us now to live in a relationship with Him, a relationship of thankfulness and gratitude.
What happened with this one leper, who returned to give glory to God?
These are the steps that need to be constantly taking place in our lives.
1. _He returned_. To this one leper, Jesus was his priority and it was not about living his life. He had to come to Jesus. His life would now fall into place in Jesus and he was not worried. What about you? Is getting into the new normal your priority or is to be in Jesus?
2. _with a loud voice glorified God_ - He became a loud witness of Jesus. No one could stop him now and he wanted the whole world to know the Master. Is your witness of Jesus loud and clear, at a time such as this? Or is your witness of Him, hidden and subdued?
3. _Fell down on his face._ His life was now that of worship, of acknowledging Jesus as God. His life was now devoted to the Master in the worship of Him. Are you devoted to Jesus in worshipping Him at all times?
4. _at His feet._ This leper fell at the feet of Jesus. He gave himself to Jesus as an unworthy Doulos of Christ. He was no more his own. Have you come to that place of giving yourself as an unworthy Doulos of Christ?
5. _giving Him thanks_ This leper’s life was a life of thankfulness and gratitude to God. This was how he was giving glory to God. Our life too has to be a life of constant thankfulness and gratitude to God. Not only when things are going well with us but at all times, for we have now come to our Master.
It is not that God needs our worship but it is only in this relationship with God, which the leper had come into, will we have the fullness of life. _Proverbs 3:5-7 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; (6) In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. (7) Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil._
The nine lepers had a level of faith in Jesus that enabled them to experience a miracle but it the one leper, who had come into the fullness of life in Jesus. The ratio of those, who are eager for God to help them to get back to living life, to those who are seeking for fulness of life in Christ, will be 9:1.
Where would you see yourself? Part of the majority, or the minority?
*Thought to ponder*
Mark 8:35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.