Influencers Weekly Devotional

The One Who Came Back by

Rocky Fleming

On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Luke 17: 11-18 (ESV)

This Thursday, our Country will celebrate Thanksgiving. I’m sure most of you know the history of this national holiday. If not, you better learn it soon, for most things that are attached to God and country and our history with God in this Country, are slowly being rewritten to omit Him, which includes our holidays. We need to remember that even though Thanksgiving, as an American holiday, was officially recognized and signed into being as a holiday in 1941 by Federal legislation, the heart and intentions of it began in the sixteen hundreds by Pilgrims who survived another year in the new world. You see, it wasn’t about football and Black Friday, and time away from work that motivated them to thank God for their prosperity, as we do today. Their prosperity was more basic than that and their thanksgiving more heartfelt as a result. Their prosperity was about survival, and their thanksgiving was a deep sense of gratitude that God had given them a good life because they had made it another year. Read Edward Winslow’s first hand account written in a letter he wrote December 12, 1621: “Our corn [i.e. wheat]did prove well, and God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley indifferent good, but our peas not worth the gathering, for we feared they were too late sown. They came up very well, and blossomed, but the sun parched them in the blossom. Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.” “..yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.” When you read these words, are you like me by really getting into what made these Pilgrims so thankful, and what might be missing today in our Country? Do you see the humble thankfulness in Winslow and his people, and their willingness to share the bounty instead of hoarding it? It is apparent that God sent both bountiful crops and helpful neighbors to these Pilgrims, as the Native Americans who occupied the land the Pilgrims were on blessed them in return for the Pilgrim’s generosity. There were bountiful crops and game, and there was peace between two different cultures. It was a time to be thankful, and it was appropriate to do so. Seeing what God does for us, and giving Him our deepest thanksgiving is the most worthy thing we can do. Unfortunately, for those who are spoiled by their culture, or feel they are “entitled” to have everything given to them without price or work or risk, you will see them as less thankful. Why is this? I can never know why some people are deeply grateful because they connect their desperation with God’s intervention, and it makes them thankful, but many, if not most people in this Country take God’s goodness that keeps them from being desperate for granted. They have been so conditioned by a culture of abundance that they waste more in a year than most people in this world would ever have in a lifetime? Little wonder people in other nations with very little in the way of material things are easily led to hate America because of what they see in many Americans. This is how their minds are shaped against us by the self-serving agendas of ruthless leaders. Oh there are bright spots of generous, self-sacrificing people in this Country who would literally give the shirts off their backs to someone in need. Even so, they are rare. But the, “Get what you can from God and give nothing in return” attitude is nothing new. There have always been people who get what they want from God and never give back to Him a spirit of thankfulness and generosity, or even sincere appreciation. It happened with Jesus, as you can read about in the scripture I have included. The story is that ten men were healed by Jesus, of the most dreaded disease of that day.…leprosy. This was a crippling, rotting disease that did more than inflict the body. It castigated the person from society, and affected all areas of their life, including family, friends and loved ones. Needless to say, the ten lepers wanted to be healed and return to a normal life. This might account for the nine who were healed, but didn’t return to Jesus to thank Him immediately. They had other things on their minds, and they ran home to show their healed bodies. But, there was one man who did return, and he came with not only his thanks to Jesus, but also his worship of Him. And wouldn’t you know it? It was a Samaritan. Can’t you just hear two legalistic Jewish Pharisees watching this thing and talking to one another? “Saul, why does it always have to be a Samaritan? Isn’t there a nice Jewish boy around Jerusalem who can be the hero of Jesus’ story? First it was the Good Samaritan. Then it was the Samaritan woman at the well. Doesn’t He know that Samaritans are half-breeds and are frowned upon by us pure Jews? I wouldn’t have returned either, for we deserve God’s help. We keep the rules.” Hmmm, sounds a lot like some people who think they are “entitled” to a good life, and to be blessed because they deserve it, rather than what God chooses to do. Maybe that was the difference for the Samaritan? He was not only a leper, but he was also a Samaritan, and this made him doubly aware of how good Jesus’ gift of healing was for him. It wasn’t hard for him to humble himself and bow before Jesus in thankfulness, for he had been living in a state of humility all of his life. He was mistreated by the society he lived in, and was regarded as low as a dog by them. He connected God’s gift of his healing to his desperation, and it made him deeply thankful. It also got Jesus’ attention, and it has become a timeless lesson for the last 2,000 plus years. Just think about it: That humble, sick, Samaritan leper is the hero of this story, for he came back with his thanksgiving and praise of Jesus. Jesus recognized him as having done a good thing, and we still read about it today. This year, you too can be a hero of sorts, provided you are willing to humble yourself and return to the One who has blessed you so greatly. Will you join me in thanking our King for His great generosity to us? Let us bow before Him with our humble praise and worship and intercede for a Country who does not recognize Him, or the great abundance He has given to her. There were ten lepers who received the healing. But nine of them did not recognize the complete gift Jesus would have given to them if they had returned. They did not understand that what He would do for them in other ways was far greater than a healed body that would one day die, even though it had been healed. They got a partial blessing by not returning, for after being physically healed they went to the family feast, and other things. If they had TVs in that day, they would likely be glued to a game, much like the millions in our Country will do on Thanksgiving. But there was one man who got it right. He came back, and he made it to the Hall of Fame of being recognized by Jesus because of it. He understood that he was in the presence of God, and it was God who had blessed him by healing him. Therefore, he not only offered his thanks to Jesus for the provision given to him, he worshipped Him because of it. Will you join me in getting it right by following the Samaritan’s example and go back to the One who has blessed us so greatly? Will you join with me in worship of Him because of what He has done? After all, that is what Thanksgiving is all about, isn’t it? The Pilgrims understood. Download file