The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Where Are the Nine?"
"And as He entered into a certain village, there met Him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off, and they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when He saw them, He said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?" (Luke 17:12-17).
Where are the nine? I am not certain about the other eight, but far too often, I have been among those who failed to turn back and give thanks.
The longer I live, the more I realize it seems appropriate to continually remain on my knees to offer gratitude. This would not be God's will, of course. He calls us not only to kneel, but to walk and to run by His grace (Ephesians 4:1; Hebrews 12:1). We are to be doers, and not only hearers (James 1:22). However, as we walk and run, we can and must maintain within our hearts the rightly termed "attitude of gratitude" that glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ, blesses others, and maintains within our own hearts the sweetness of God's peace. Yes, healed from the leprosy of sin, and then blessed beyond measure by the One who with the Lord Jesus also gives us all things, constitutes thanksgiving as the only sane response we can express for the ongoing abundance of grace we receive in Christ (Romans 8:32).
"In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (I Thessalonians 5:18).
Our Heavenly Father does not require our gratitude and thanksgiving. He loves it dearly - "the prayer of the upright is His delight - but He does not need our "Thank You" (Proverbs 15:8). But oh how we require a full heart of appreciation, and the frequent expression thereof! The one leper who turned back to give thanks tells us this. What kind of life did he live after the Lord's healing, and his expressed gratitude? We do not know. However, we can surmise a walk with God that must have been characterized by ongoing thanksgiving and the holy fruits thereof. We can also be certain that our own life will smoothly flow upon the current of our Lord's grace and mercy only as we remember the truth that He did not merely speak to heal our spiritual leprosy. No, He took it upon Himself on the cross of Calvary, making possible the freely given adornment of His righteousness as the gift of grace. "Christ… bore our sins in His own body on the tree" (I Peter 2:21; 24).
Where are the nine? We do not know. But of this we can be certain: we can be the one, the one who returned to give thanks. We must, for the glory of God, the blessing of others, and the peace of our hearts. I have too often wandered away with the nine, oblivious to the grace that comes by way of the cross. I long to be the one, and I know you share this desire. Let us give thanks that He works in our hearts to lead us to kneel in thanksgiving, and then to arise and give thanks as we walk and run by the gift of His Spirit.
"Be ye thankful."
(Colossians 3:15)
Weekly Memory Verse
In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
(I Thessalonians 5:18).
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