Luke 17:11-19 – There were ten lepers, but why did only one return to give thanks?

Luke 17:11-19 leads us to the following reflection! Are you grateful to God for all that He has done in your life? 

Gratitude means the recognition of a person by someone who has rendered him a benefit, a help, a favor, and so on. Gratitude is thanks.

Perhaps we should ask ourselves, why should we be grateful to God? The answer is simple, because we must be grateful for the simple reason that at dawn, we get up, we are alive, healthy, breathing, seeing, walking, talking and so on.

We should thank God every day, because the Bible teaches us that we should always give thanks to God.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 – In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

There were ten leper men, who when they saw Jesus passing by, began to cry out to be healed. Those men could not approach, as their illness excluded them from society, but at that moment they were facing someone who could cure them of their infirmities.

Luke 17:11-13  – On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus crossed the border between Samaria and Galilee. Upon entering a village, ten lepers came to him. They stood at a distance and shouted in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

Those men recognized that Jesus could do something for them, but unfortunately of the ten, nine were unable to return to thank the miracle Jesus had done. accomplished in their lives. Only one return to thank, that is, only one had the humility to recognize what Jesus had done in his life and this one returned with an open heart to thank him.

Luke 17:14-15 – Seeing them, he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” As they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, praising God with a loud voice.

He is only able to thank those who have the humility to recognize. Unfortunately, we are often not able to recognize what God has done for us. We ended up asking God for a lot of things and unfortunately we didn’t come back to say thanks when we conquered.

When Jesus ordered the lepers to go and show themselves to the priests, as they went, they were cleansed of their disease, at that time when all ten lepers were cleansed, only one returned to thank the master for what had happened.

Luke 17:16-17 – He fell down at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. This one was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Haven’t all ten been cleansed? Where are the other nine?

Sadly we often behave like the nine, we cry, cry, cry, beg, but when we receive, unfortunately we don’t humbly return to give thanks. our blessings fill God’s place in our lives.

Jesus then asks, “Wasn’t ten cleansed because only one returned?” just a foreigner about recognizing what Jesus had done for him.

Only those who have humility have the ability to be grateful for the benefits that are given. A person who is humble has a pure heart, he can reciprocate, just as that man returned in thanks. 

How many times are we blessed and don’t return to give back? How many times has someone helped us, someone said you could do it, someone said I trust you, but for some reason we stopped helping, we stopped encouraging others, we stopped trusting, we stopped being grateful.

We forget that one day someone was kind to us, and with that we let gratitude and humility be taken for pride.

We learned that unfortunately those who are perhaps out there are more grateful to God than we who are “close to God”.

Psalm 116:12 – What shall I give to the Lord, for all the benefits He has done me? 

The Psalmist in his great wisdom leads us to an extraordinary reflection, where we stop and think. What could we give to God in appreciation for all the benefits he has done for us?

The psalmist was preoccupied with wanting to give something to God for the benefits he had received. And today we must also have this concern. It is precisely through our worship that we offer an offering in thanks for all that God has done for us.

For our reflection

This week, just this week.

If we count from today’s date to seven days ago, how many times have you thanked God? 

How many times have you said to God, thank you for the air I breathe, for the bread that feeds me, for the water that quenches my thirst, for what I have, for the dawn, for the evening?

How many times have you said God thank you for my family, thank you for my health, thank you for my house, thank you for my ministry, thank you for the dream that became an achievement?

How many times? How many times have you thanked them? How many times have you stopped this week and said to God, thank you for everything?

Psalm 116:12, leads us to reflect that most of the time, we behave like the nine, and not like one, we often behave in a selfish way, thinking that God must give us, and that we don’t need to go back and give thanks.

The one who came back to give thanks was a Samaritan, and this Samaritan teaches us that the blessing is wonderful, but much better is to go back and be reunited with the blesser.

That man teaches us that we shouldn’t behave like the crowd, maybe the nine when they were healed, went to find their families, put their lives in order, they only care about themselves, but that one, the Samaritan, bothered to return and thank the owner of the miracle.

God is willing to bless anyone who cries out and seeks Him with all their heart, but above all, God loves the one who knows how to receive and give thanks.

So be grateful to God, right now, on today’s date, at this hour, many are going down to the grave, many are being admitted to hospitals, but it pleased God that you are alive and healthy today.  

Be grateful for it, be grateful for the family you have, be grateful for the job you have, be grateful to God for the air you breathe, for the breath of life, be grateful to God that you can see, hear, speak and walk .  

Be grateful to God for the smallest things, for God loves the one who always gives thanks to Him.

That with this simple study, we can understand that, we must have humility when entering the presence of this God so powerful, we must recognize his power, sovereignty, mercy and Glory.  

We must be concerned about thanking God always!