BE THANKFUL
13th May 2012 Eltham Baptist Church
No. 376
And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, who stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Teacher, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There was not found one that returned to give glory to God, except this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go your way: your faith has made you whole. Luke 17:11-18
In this story a particular Samaritan had leprosy and Jesus had mercy on Him. The Samaritans were classed as unclean and disliked by the Jews yet Jesus gave them a chance to experience the amazing love of God. 10 of them cried out for mercy and Jesus told them what to do and as they went to see the Priests they were healed before they got there. One came back and gave thanks and Jesus asked what had happened to the other 9, but they had all disappeared. They were so glad to be free of this terrible disease that they must have run off to tell everyone. You would think that Jesus wouldnt have cared less whether they came back or not and being God would just have been happy to be of service to mankind, but He asked this solitary grateful one where the others were. It says that this man was a stranger, a Samaritan so it could have been that the others were Jews, outcasts from their family, friends, neighbours and country who didnt care about living in Samaria. Jesus specifically asked why the others hadnt come to give thanks as well. Its obvious from Jesus reaction that He cares about the giving of thanks and this leper wasnt just cleansed of his sickness but was also made whole as well. It appears that he was cleansed of all the traces of the disease and also given his fingers back that had fallen off. Being thankful is a very important part of our walk with God and can be easily neglected. We can get one request answered after another and yet still go our way like these 9 lepers and not be thankful. Being thankful is so important in our warfare against Satan and also in our relationship with God. Jesus is looking for and expecting us to be thankful. Thankfulness is the cherry on the cake that completes the big picture and makes us whole. If we arent a thankful Christian then we arent complete and wont be able to do all that God has called us to do. These lepers couldnt do life because parts of them were missing. If you dont have all your fingers and toes or are badly disfigured in some way you are hindered in your service for God. I believe that there are many Christians out there who may have it together but spiritually they are not thankful and so are unable to do all that God has called them to do. They are weak and overcome by satan. One of the reasons why I believe Bernice and I have lasted so long in the ministry is because we try to be thankful. We dont always succeed but we do try to appreciate all that God has given us each and every day.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Psalm 103:2
Coming from Zimbabwe with all its troubles and lack, has helped us to appreciate many of the basic blessings in life that many New Zealanders just take for granted and somehow feel its their right to have. It seems like these 9 Lepers werent really thankful and responded accordingly. Its easy to fall into the mind-set of murmuring and moaning which is the opposite of thankfulness. No matter what God does for you, you can only think of all the things you dont have and show no appreciation of what you have got already. I remember a song called the Big Yellow Taxi that had the lyrics You dont know what youve got till its gone. This is so true in life. The Israel of old was being consumed by idolatry and rejected the constant warnings of the Prophets so God allowed them to go into exile. It was only when they were there far from home that they came to their senses and realised what they had lost. There was another famous song that was based on this same psalm. By the Rivers of Babylon.
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, Sing us one of the songs of Zion! How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? Psalm 137:1-5
May we not be like them and have what we just take for granted removed from us, or come under a foreign power because we didnt appreciate what God had given us. May we not think that its our right to have all that we have but rather be like the thankful Leper and fall at Jesus feet in gratitude? America is at the crossroads. Such a mighty nation that has had revival after revival yet they have turned their backs on God and soon could lose it all if there isnt a change of heart. One of the symptoms of the last days is an unthankful heart.
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. 2 Timothy 3:1-5
We need to start today thanking God for all He has and is doing for us and not just when things go right either but also when things go wrong. If you can be thankful when things are going wrong then youll really be soring when things go right. As you know we live next to Caracs Engineering and sometimes it can get a bit noisy especially when they start up a particular machine. Its not so bad during the day but lately it has been starting up before 7 in the morning. It is very hard to have a prayer time and bible study with that infernal noise going on in the background. It really got on top of me the other day and I started moaning and asking God why? From then on my day went downhill. Last Friday I was having a great time with the Lord when it started up at 6.30am but this time I kept saying thank you Lord. Soon I got on top of the situation and it eventually stopped. To top it off they parked their vehicle close to our driveway so that it was difficult to get in and out but I determined to be thankful for all I had rather than those things that were annoying me. There are so many things that are going wrong in these days and we will sink if we dont cultivate an attitude of thankfulness. If you were to take a record of all the bad things around you then you will start to sink but you can walk on water if you look for things to thank God for. Now I dont think you should just be a door mat and let your husband beat you up and just be thankful for it or take verbal abuse from others, for there is a time to say something. I dont think that I should just let sin happen in the Church with a thankful heart and not confront it either but I do believe that God allows things in our lives that He wants us to die too with an attitude of thanksgiving so that He can make us into stronger Christians. I think all Christians should spend some time in a 3rd world Country to realise what they have got and be more thankful for. We are so spoilt here in the Western Church that all we can do is moan about things that are so trivial. We need to spend time in a Church that only has wooden benches and no instruments or carpets to realise how blessed we are. Im not saying that we should go outside and have our services under a tree and give all our money to the poor but I do believe God wants us to be more thankful for what we have already. We here in New Zealand should be the happiest people on earth with all we have. May it never happen that the Church has to go underground because we are governed by Muslims and lose all that we once take for granted? The Samaritan leper got more than the other 9 for they were only cleansed, but he was made whole. Start being thankful today for all that you have in God and not only will you have a greater sense of what God has done for you but there will be a greater chance of miracles taking place in your life. You will be made whole. I heard a saying once that said, Flies cant land on a hot stove. Its true in the spiritual for Satan will have a hard time touching you when you are thankful for all you have, especially in God.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Colossians 3:5
Its so easy to forget to be thankful and we can become desensitised to all the blessings of God that Hes showers on us every day. Reactivate the awareness of all His benefits today and complete the portrait He is painting of you.
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