Be ONE out of ten (1/10)

As we meditate Luke 17 today, verses 11-14 say, 

Luke 17:11 

On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,[f] who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 

- These lepers are outcasts from society, and had no company other than other lepers. 

- They stood afar off, knowing that by the law their disease obliged them to keep their distance.

- A sense of our spiritual leprosy should make us very humble in all our approaches to Christ.

- Who are we, that we should draw near to him that is infinitely pure? We are impure. Yet He healed us all. 

- The truth is: We are all lepers spiritually (we belong to these 10 lepers) - we are all unclean/impure, but there is nothing that cannot be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. 

Matthew 8:17 

This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said, “He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases.”

HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Luke17: 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 

- Are we like the 9 out of ten who did not return to Jesus?

- Or we are those one out of ten, who intentionally and purposely returned to glorify Him?

Let us be one out of ten. Let us always give what is due to Him. How?

3S' of Thanksgiving

1. Be speedy

 Luke 17:15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;

- The man returned to Jesus before he could reach the priest to clear his name as being cleansed from leprosy. 

- Similarly, right after experiencing the moves of God, our automatic response is to give back the praises to His name.

- We do not have to wait for too long to celebrate by ourselves or with everyone, but we celebrate with the Lord and let others be the witnesses.  

2. Be strongly audible

 Luke17:15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;

- Out of the fullness of his heart, he couldn't help but shout with praises.

- Similarly, our praises should not only be heard by man but it should reach to heaven to be clearly heard by God. 

- This will be a pleasing sound that reaches His ear and will give a smile to His face. Doesn't He deserve it?

3. Be sincere

16 and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.

- The man showed his sincere gratitude to Jesus. This act of taking no credit for himself but giving all back to God.

- It is the proper posture of our heart to God. A simple way of saying, ''I don't deserve this, but thank you Lord.''

- Words are not enough to express our gratitude to God so we fall down in surrender. Knowing that, ''if He's able to heal my physical body, then He's also able to heal my soul.''

-  It is at Jesus' feet that we recognize our place before Him and honor and acknowledge His power and authority over all things. 

- It is at Jesus feet that we feel true humility. 

- The higher we can lift Jesus up, the humble the state of our hearts are. 

We all need healing. Our bodies need physical healing and our soul needs spiritual healing. 

Among the 10 lepers, guess who received spiritual healing? Of course, that ONE out of 10. The one who returned to God. The one who praised and glorified God. 

Let us reflect:

- Do we give what is due to the Lord daily - our praises and worship to Him, the glory He deserves?

- How quick are we in giving praises to God? Do we glorify Him right after we receive the blessings, and undeserved favors?

- Do we intentionally take time praising and glorifying God after the whole day, after church services, after our victorious missions, victorious soaking, victorious equipping? 

- or we just tend to serve ourselves first after a whole day, or tend to just sleep right away  after a long exhausting travel period from mission, or keeping busy again with work after church activities without falling on Jesus' feet and simply say thank you, I give back the glory to you, or sing a song for Him instead?

- After receiving the blessings or prayers, do we automatically praise Him? or tell the good news to our friends first before talking to God? 

- Are we loud enough to be heard by God? Are we loud enough to be heard by others so they too will glorify God?

- Do we share our testimonies to others? or we still feel hesitant to testify God in front of everyone?

- Are we sincere and humble enough to give 100% credit to God without taking any of it for ourselves?

May we give what is due to our God. May our eyes be more open to things of God in our everyday personal set-ups. Small or great things give glory to Him. Oh how beautiful our walks would be with eyes that see goodness of God.

Luke 17:19

 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”