As many of us are aware here in the U.S., the Thanksgiving holiday is upon us! Soon, many of us will be traveling to be with the ones we love. We will gather around a great banquet full of all sorts of delicious foods and drinks. We will make merry and be happy, telling stories as we fill up our bellies to overflowing, then sit back and nap while we dream of leftovers! This has become the "norm" here in our nation. We are very good at taking for granted everything that God has blessed us with. Many of us forget to be thankful for all that God has given us, and the one question I always have at this time of year: Why do we only spend one day being thankful when we all should spend every day thanking God for all things in our life? It is very sad for me to see other "Christians" that make a big deal out of Thanksgiving, but do not have a thankful heart the rest of the year, but instead either complain about there life, or give credit to themselves for the things in there life.
"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 17:15-18.
How many of us know that thankfulness is foundational to the Christian life? Thankfulness is a conscious response that comes from looking beyond our blessings to their source. As Christians, we have been forgiven, saved from death, and adopted as God's children. There could not be any betters reasons for a grateful, thankful heart! Here in our passage, Jesus has cleansed ten lepers. Lepers in Christ's day were social outcasts. They were very contagious and separated from all, including those they loved. These ten lepers wanted desperately for Christ to heal them. Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priest. As they went, they were cleansed. Now imagine this: You are forbidden to enter your village because of your disease, you can't live in your own home, you can't work or even touch your own children or spouse. Can we imagine what joy must have overcome them as they were cleansed and ran back to their homes?
But, one of them, a Samaritan, stopped. He turned and ran back to Jesus. No keep in mind, Samaritans were normally shunned by the Jews, but Jesus had healed him! Then Jesus asked him, "Where are the others?" There were ten lepers. Ten were healed, ten were reveling in their new found health, ten were joyfully rushing home to their loved ones to celebrate and be with them again. But, only one considered the Source of this blessing and stopped to thank and worship the One who had given him back his life!
Friends, as Thanksgiving draws near, I would urge you to stop in the midst of all our business and think about the things that the Lord has brought us all through this year. There have been heartaches, anxieties, sorrows, many things that have gone on to all of us. But, through it all, God was and is with us! We might not have much money, we might have lost loved one's or relationships, but, we are alive and we are in Christ! HE IS WITH US!! We all is said and done, the only thing that matters is you and Jesus!
Friends, we have been healed and made whole by the Savior! We are free to enjoy the abundant life the Savior has graciously given us. Could we, like the nine lepers, rush off so quickly to glory in our blessings without stopping to thank our Redeemer? God looks for our thanks! Our worship, prayers, service, and daily life should be saturated with thanksgiving to God. And for those of us here in the U.S., we should always remember the blessings that God has poured out upon our nations, and think of the others that don't even have an eighth of what we have, and are yet thankful to God for what they do have!
May God Richly Bless You Today!! H Trent!
"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 17:15-18.
How many of us know that thankfulness is foundational to the Christian life? Thankfulness is a conscious response that comes from looking beyond our blessings to their source. As Christians, we have been forgiven, saved from death, and adopted as God's children. There could not be any betters reasons for a grateful, thankful heart! Here in our passage, Jesus has cleansed ten lepers. Lepers in Christ's day were social outcasts. They were very contagious and separated from all, including those they loved. These ten lepers wanted desperately for Christ to heal them. Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priest. As they went, they were cleansed. Now imagine this: You are forbidden to enter your village because of your disease, you can't live in your own home, you can't work or even touch your own children or spouse. Can we imagine what joy must have overcome them as they were cleansed and ran back to their homes?
But, one of them, a Samaritan, stopped. He turned and ran back to Jesus. No keep in mind, Samaritans were normally shunned by the Jews, but Jesus had healed him! Then Jesus asked him, "Where are the others?" There were ten lepers. Ten were healed, ten were reveling in their new found health, ten were joyfully rushing home to their loved ones to celebrate and be with them again. But, only one considered the Source of this blessing and stopped to thank and worship the One who had given him back his life!
Friends, as Thanksgiving draws near, I would urge you to stop in the midst of all our business and think about the things that the Lord has brought us all through this year. There have been heartaches, anxieties, sorrows, many things that have gone on to all of us. But, through it all, God was and is with us! We might not have much money, we might have lost loved one's or relationships, but, we are alive and we are in Christ! HE IS WITH US!! We all is said and done, the only thing that matters is you and Jesus!
Friends, we have been healed and made whole by the Savior! We are free to enjoy the abundant life the Savior has graciously given us. Could we, like the nine lepers, rush off so quickly to glory in our blessings without stopping to thank our Redeemer? God looks for our thanks! Our worship, prayers, service, and daily life should be saturated with thanksgiving to God. And for those of us here in the U.S., we should always remember the blessings that God has poured out upon our nations, and think of the others that don't even have an eighth of what we have, and are yet thankful to God for what they do have!
May God Richly Bless You Today!! H Trent!
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