Be Intentional About Praising God! (By Veronica Squires)!
There is a story in the Bible which convicts and reminds me of the importance of saying “thank you” to Jesus for the good things he does in our lives. It is found in Luke 17: 11-19 and tells the story of Jesus healing ten men with leprosy. Here is the text:
Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy[a] met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
The first thing that jumps out to me, while living during this COVID-19 pandemic, is the fact that these lepers had to socially distance their entire lives. Leprosy was a disease that, if one had it, relegated them to living outside of contact with normal society. They were considered unclean and forsaken. Jesus had pity on them and cleansed all ten men! What an amazing miracle! Surely their lives were, on that day, forever changed for the better.
But the twist in the story comes when we realize only one man took the time to come back and offer praise and thanksgiving. Why didn’t the other nine come back? Where were their manners? Were they completely ungrateful for their blessing? I don’t think so. I think they were like many of us – burdened with countless things such that when one prayer is answered we move quickly to the next… forgetting to stop and recognize that a prayer has been answered or a miracle occurred. Maybe the other nine ran home to hug their family members again for the first time in years, or they went to get their favorite meal… maybe they fully intended to write Jesus a thank you note. Maybe the current of life just kept moving for the other nine and they never made the time to thank Jesus.
Recently my husband, Eric, slipped and fell on a rock at Sope Creek Trail, a place my family has frequented during the COVID-19 pandemic. The next day he could hardly move in bed from back pain. As I hooked up his ice therapy machine and started tending to him, while refereeing an argument between my two young girls, I felt totally overwhelmed. In the midst of everything else going on my new normal was going to include a husband who couldn’t get out of bed. After expressing my frustration to God (Lord, you KNOW I can’t handle this right now- I am so tired!), I texted Loren asking for prayer. Loren and the prayer team got right on it and in less than a week Eric was completely better.
And you know what? I forgot to stop and praise God! I had already moved on to praying for other concerns. It took Loren asking me to write this devotion to remind me that yes, I have a reason to praise God.
Isn’t this exactly what happens to me, and to all of us? God keeps doing miracles in our hearts, our families, our workplace, and our world and, unless we throw the anchor out and intentionally stop to reflect – we miss the moments for praise. I think this is why God so often tells his people to “remember” the things he has done. Why else would he say that repeatedly if it’s not easy to forget? Remembering must be an intentional effort.
So let me attempt to be like the one man who returned and praise God is a loud voice:
Lord, THANK YOU for hearing my cry from heaven and healing Eric’s back. Thank you that You care about all the details of our lives – and your heart is moved by our requests. Thank you for being a good, kind, present, and loving Lord. Thank you for your healing power displayed in my family. You are awesome and mighty and greatly to be praised!
Friends, what can you praise God for today?