Sunday, December 21, 2008

and as they went...

Luke 17: 11 As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. 12 As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, 13 crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.
15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” 16 He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.


We seem to always use this incident to talk about how ungrateful people are - 1 out of the 10 came back to say thank you to Jesus.

But I'm taken with the fact that as they went they were healed. Iow, they didn't receive their miracle until they started moving.

Lepers had to live outside of the town, w/o contact with people. If someone felt they'd been healed of it, they had to go show themselves to the priest & have him verify it. Only then could the reenter society.

Jesus didn't heal the lepers while they stood there. It wasn't until they were obedient to what He said that their cleansing came, their miracle happened.

I feel that way about downtown. The miracles won't really start to happen until we/I start to move toward being a presence there.

Just help me to remember to be thankful for each one, as they happen!

Maybe that's what's going on in your life. God has been calling you to be or do something, or to step out in obedience to something He's called you to. Maybe the miracle(s) you need won't happen until you act on what He's been saying to you.

No comments: