There is a powerful story in Luke 17 of an encounter that Christ had with 10 men who suffered with leprosy.
“Then as Jesus entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ So when He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? And He said to him, ‘Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
Luke 17:11-19 NKJV
There are several principles in this text that can empower us to walk in our divine destiny. First, Jesus met the lepers at the point of their need. They cried out to him in their unclean, leprous condition. Jesus did not require them to be cleaned up before he would help them. He responded to their request while they were still in a filthy condition. Aren’t you glad that the Lord came to you at the point of your need and reached out to you in your sinful condition?
Second, Jesus required them to step out in faith and obedience to his Word in order to receive their healing. In those days, when a person was healed of leprosy, they had to immediately go have the healing verified by the priest. It was a step of faith for them to go the priest because when they started the journey, they still had leprosy. It was after they stepped out in faith and obedience to the Word of Christ that their miraculous healing occurred. Many times, the answer to our prayer comes as we step out in faith to obey the Word of God!
Third, the proper response to the Lord is always thanksgiving and gratitude. Only one out of the ten lepers returned to give thanks. The other ten took this miraculous blessing for granted and forgot the Lord in their haste to return to the lives they had before leprosy.
The fourth and perhaps the most powerful principle is revealed by the words that Jesus spoke to the man who returned. Jesus said, “Your faith has made you well.” There is a wonderful truth in this phrase hidden beneath the surface. The Greek word that was used to describe the healing that this man received is totally different than the word used to describe the healing of the other nine. The nine lepers were “cleansed” of their physical disease—but the Greek word used to describe the healing of the man who returned to give thanks is the word “sozo.” This word means to save, heal, preserve and rescue. This word is also the root of the word “savior” in the New Testament. This is a clear indication that this man was not only physically healed but he was also spiritually healed and made brand new!
So what do we learn from this? A lifestyle of gratitude to God will enable us to enjoy the blessings we already have— but it will also open the way for much more of God’s favor in our future. The world would be a totally different place if we ALL lived a life of gratitude to God. Let’s make up our mind to consistently choose a life of “THANKS LIVING!”
