Gratitude

Luke 17:11-19
It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance but raised their voices, calling out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"
Taking a good look at them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests."
They went, and while still on their way, became clean. One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. He kneeled at Jesus' feet, so grateful. He couldn't thank him enough—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus said, "Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?" Then he said to him, "Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you."

How did only one of the ten come back to thank Jesus? What were the others thinking? Because the one was called an outsider, most theologians believe that the other nine would have been Jews – on the inside. Maybe they had a sense of entitlement where they kind of expected healing. As if it were owed to them.

I wonder how many followers of Christ today have a sense of entitlement. We serve God, as long as it benefits us. We cry out to God, when we see things that are not right in our lives…

All ten in this story received the blessing of a physical healing. But what Almighty God wants us to see is that the physical healing is only a small portion of the blessing He has for us. There is so much more that he wants to lavish on us. The one got more. He received the physical blessing, but he kept going after God. His gratitude gave him entry to the greater blessing. He wasn’t only healed, but he was saved.

What kind of gratitude do you have for Christ? How have you showed it? I can speak for myself here – I need to get over me. Get over my issues. Get over my entitlement. I need a grateful heart. Are you one of the nine? Or the one?