“One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.” (Luke 17:15 NIV84)

This verse comes from Luke’s account of when Jesus healed ten people who had leprosy. As you know, leprosy was a very contagious deadly disease. People who contracted leprosy were called the “walking dead.” They were required to live outside the city until they died. Jesus met ten lepers outside the city. They cried out to Jesus to have mercy on them. Jesus told them to go into the city and show themselves to the priest. The priests had the responsibility of confirming all healings of leprosy. As the ten lepers went into the city, they were healed. Note that their faith is in Jesus’ word. He did not touch them or pray over them. He simply commanded them to go, and they did. May we have a similar faith. May Jesus’ words be enough.

But only one of the lepers who realized that he was healed by Jesus stopped what he is doing to praise God. Instead of continuing on to the priest’s inspection, he returned to Jesus to praise and thank Him for His healing. Today, this has me thinking about whether I am acknowledging the awesome things God does in my life with proper praise. And what about you? Do we stop what we are doing to give God praise when it is proper to do so? Do we go back to make sure He knows that we are thankful for what He has done for us?

I pray that today, and always, we find it necessary to stop and praise the Lord for the awesome things He does in our lives.

Peace!

Pastor Tom

www.firmlyrooted.church