What Did God Ever Do For You?

Luke 17:11-19

“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, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, 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.” (Luke 17:11-14)

According to Jewish law, because of the infectious nature of leprosy, lepers were not allowed to come in close contact with healthy people, or even to handle things others might handle later, to prevent spread of the disease. The means of identifying the disease and rules for dealing with it are given in Leviticus 13.

When the group of men asked Jesus to alleviate their suffering, he told them to go down and show themselves to the priests. At the time there was no cure for leprosy, although it sometimes just went away, so the law made provision for identifying one who had been healed. Leviticus 14 describes what was to be done if a person was healed of leprosy. The faith of the men is demonstrated in their obedience. They were healed on their way. Their faith resulted in taking action, completing the faith, just a James 2:22-26 describes in referring to Abraham and Rahab. They act because of their faith, resulting in healing. It is still the faith that produces the healing.

“Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (James 2:22-26)

When we flip a switch to turn on a light, we do not light the light. All we have done is allow the electricity to flow to light the light. We have nothing to do with lighting the light itself. In the same way, our action flips the switch allowing our faith to work. If power is present, electricity will flow through the bulb, heating it up. The side benefit of the heating is light, which was what we were after. Funny that we say we turned on the light when in fact we didn’t. We just turned on the electricity, resulting in light. If there is no light, it indicates that power is not getting to the bulb properly.

“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.” (Luke 17:15-16)

Of the ten who were cleansed, only one thought about what was happening. The others were so focused on being declared cleansed, they didn’t stop about how it happened. A lot of people in churches receive what god has done with no consciousness of what was required for them to get it. They just take it for granted. As a result few really get involved and experience the fullness of the Christian life God has for them.

“And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” (Luke 17:17-19)

Just one of the lepers, and that one a Samaritan, was appreciative enough to go back and say thanks, or to give God the glory. The others just accepted it as their due. The one realized Jesus had done something special for him. God wants our appreciation, and love should give it. I Thessalonians 5:18 commands, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

The writer of Hebrews stresses the special privilege and blessing we have as a result of Christ’s sacrifice. Realizing it should result in continual praise, which he defines as verbally giving thanks in Hebrews 13:15. “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” He didn’t owe you, he did it because he loved you. When we’ve done everything he asks of us we still owe him.

Did you say, “thank you” for what he‘s done for you? Maybe the reason he didn’t tell you “thy faith hath made you whole” like he told the Samaritan is because you didn’t stop to say thank you so he could.