Saltshakers
Matthew 5:13a : “you are the salt of the earth”
Vision: to love God wholeheartedly, to serve and preserve one another and to bring flavour to the rest of the world
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Tuesday, June 09, 2009, 11:01 AM
Always Grateful
Always Grateful
As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. 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?”
-- LUKE17:12-18
The ten lepers were anxious and impatient to be healed. Jesus showed mercy and healed them, telling them to go show themselves to the priests. One of the lepers ran back to Jesus, overwhelmed with praise to God and heartfelt gratitude to his benefactor. The other nine were more interested in following the religious prescription--to show oneself to the synagogue, reentering society, and regaining acceptance from family and neighbors. It meant a social, religious, and medical “clean bill of health.”
Rather than seek approval and acceptance from the priests and society, one leper chose to rush back to Jesus with happy abandon. He was less interested in “getting on with his life” and more concerned with acknowledging God’s mercy and pouring out gratitude to his Savior.
Rather than seek approval and acceptance from the priests and society, one leper chose to rush back to Jesus with happy abandon. He was less interested in “getting on with his life” and more concerned with acknowledging God’s mercy and pouring out gratitude to his Savior.
God is not impressed with religious duty; he is more interested in our spiritual gratitude. The Lord is always looking for the heart that is effusive in expressing thanks for his great mercies. Even Romans 1:21 warns that God gave sinful man over to his own wickedness because “he neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.” Purpose today to pour out your gratitude to God for every small and great mercy.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the countless blessings and innumerable mercies you pour out upon me every day.
Labels: devotion