Luke 17:11-19

King James Version (KJV)

¹¹ And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

¹² And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

¹³ And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

¹⁴ And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

¹⁵ And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

¹⁶ And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷ And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

¹⁸ There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

¹⁹ And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Look closely at what Jesus says to the one healed leper when he returned to thank him.  He asked him where were the other nine that had been  CLEANSED?  What did He mean CLEANSED?  When someone has leprosy they no longer have the ability to feel pain.  The leprosy eats through the nerve endings and lepers commonly die of infections from injuries due to this fact.  Before they die, they often lose the affected area of their body.  It could be fingers, toes, etc..  When Jesus CLEANSED them He healed the leprosy, but their bodies were not RESTORED to what they had been before.

Now notice what Jesus said to the man who came back and fell at His feet to thank Him.  I call this a spirit of gratitude.  It is when you are so overwhelmed by what God has done for you, you feel it is almost disrespectful to even stand in His presence!  I have felt this a few times in my life.  Actually it was  just BEFORE God blessed me mightily!  I do not believe those extreme blessings would have  come if I had not honored God by kneeling and thankfully praising Him for the blessings I already had in my life!  As the man knelt, Jesus asked him where the others were?  Why had they not come to thank Him.  Then Jesus did something EXTRA for the man!  HE MADE HIM WHOLE!!

Jesus cleansed the others, but to the one who showed reverential gratitude, he recovered everything the leprosy had eaten away!!  He had all of his fingers, toes, and his skin was as though he had never been scarred by this terrible disease!  The others still had the after effects of the leprosy.  They too would have been MADE WHOLE had they just carried a spirit of thankfulness and praise in their hearts as the one did!

Let us not just be mindful of praise and our gratitude to God in the month of November.  Let us remember every single day of the year what God does for us every single day of the year!!   Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, my precious reader!  Enjoy your time with your family and if you cannot be with them this year, have a wonderful time in the Lord!  He is ALWAYS there!  Blessings in abundance!!