Lessons From The Ten Lepers

Your faith has made you well.
Luke 17:19


Luke writes, "There met Him ten… lepers, who stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when He saw them, He said… Go show yourselves to the priests. And… as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them… returned, and… glorified God… Jesus… said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?… And He said to him, Arise, go your way: your faith has made you well" (Luke 17:12-19). Observe three things in this story:
(1) When people reject you, you start thinking God does too. Because of their leprosy, these men were rejected by society. So when they met Christ they expected more of the same. But no, the Bible says, "When you draw close to God He will draw close to you"(James 4:8). So come, bring your problem to Him. He's the great problem-solver!
(2) Sometimes you have to 'walk it out'. We read, "As they went, they were cleansed." Sometimes change takes place quickly, but most times it happens slowly, step-by-step. You don't know exactly which step will bring victory, so you need to keep walking in faith. Before a leper was welcomed back into society the priest had to pronounce him 'clean'. How wonderful; Jesus saw the change in these men before it ever took place. That's because He has the power to make it happen. So keep walking!
(3) Gratitude and praise are so important to God.

This story reminds us how quickly we forget God's goodness, how much our praises mean to Him, and that only one in ten of us will pass the gratitude test. But that one becomes "well".

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