This week the reflection is from
the Gospel of Luke, last Sunday. It was the story of Jesus entering a village
and being met by ten lepers. They met Jesus from afar because, in those times,
leprosy was considered a contagious disease and lepers were often banished to
their own community. Jesus simply told these men to go and show themselves to
the priest. On the way, they were healed and one of the ten had the wherewithal
to go back and fall at the feet of Jesus in thanksgiving. Jesus then questioned
the man asking, where were the other nine?
Every time I hear this story, I,
like Jesus, think about the other nine. Not that I am like Jesus, but I often
wonder what happened to the other nine. Did they go and show themselves to the
priest? Because they did not realize what happened to them, like the one
Samaritan did, were they cleansed of their leprosy? The story definitely gives
us the impression that all ten were cleansed.
Jesus did some amazing things,
with just his words. My most favorite words in the Bible are, "Your faith has
saved (healed) you." Jesus never touched the man who came through the ceiling
of the over-crowded church. He just told the man to "rise up and carry your
mat." So here are ten lepers, shouting to Jesus, from afar, and he gives them
directions. Next thing you know, they are healed.
While today, there is almost no
leprosy, I often times find myself acting as the nine. I often come to God in
my prayers when I am sick, injured, frustrated, and afraid. I shout from afar,
begging Him to heal whatever ails me and, often times, my fears, frustration, or
whatever ails me goes away. However, more than not, I am one of the nine, and
I forget to go back and thank Him for the blessings I have received.
Never once, after receiving a
blessing from God, when I act like one of the nine, has He removed my blessing.
It is not like He gets mad and calls takebacks. Many of us depend on God to
help us through our struggles. It is time for me to start living like the one,
to bow down before Him, in Thanksgiving.
It is time for me to give back to
Him my prayers of Thanksgiving, for all the blessings He has bestowed on me. In
this world today, being humble and thankful is almost unique, much like the one
that returned to praise Jesus. It might just be time for us to focus on being
more like the one, than the nine. Imagine what that would look like...
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