Today is Thanksgiving. It’s a day set aside for us to give thanks to God for his many blessings. When I think of this holiday, I am reminded of a Bible story from Luke 17.
Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem when He heard ten lepers calling out to him from a distance. In that day, people with leprosy were basically cast out of regular society because they were very contagious. Because of this, when these men saw Jesus, they didn’t approach Him but instead called out to Him from a distance, “Jesus! Master! Have mercy on us!”
The Bible says that Jesus simply looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” The lepers obeyed Jesus and as they made their way to find the priests, they were completely healed of their leprosy. One of the men, when he realized that he was healed, ran back to Jesus, shouting praises to God, and fell at Jesus’ feet, thanking Him for his healing. As the man was still kneeling, Jesus asked him, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?”
Here’s one lesson we can learn from this story: When the ten lepers cried out to Jesus, they had to do so from a distance because they weren’t allowed to approach anyone because of their leprosy. However, when they were all healed, only this one man ran back to thank Jesus. In doing so, he was the only one of the ten who was able to come close enough to throw himself at Jesus’ feet. So basically, the one who gave thanks was the only one who was able to touch Jesus. You see, there can be extreme benefits in expressing our gratitude to the Lord.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Remember to give thanks.
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