And then there was one

One of the lepers realizes his skin healed.  This man turns on his heals and heads back to Jesus.

15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

Can’t you see this guy?  I doubt he stopped when the first sore healed.  Not even the second.  But when he realized the ulcerated sores were gone, he knew it was real.

This guy didn’t set there trying to decide why he once was sick but now was well.  He knew.  He didn’t second-guess the source of his healing.  He knew an answered prayer when he saw one.

So let’s look at how he reacted to answered prayer as compared to David’s guide on Thanksgiving.

So the ten lepers came to Jesus crying out for Him to heal them.  So I think we can agree they meet two of David’s points.  We might call this level 1.  The starting point.

2)   Call upon his name

7)   Seek the Lord and his strength

Let’s go to level 2.  Here are some of the points David mentions that I think are part of level 2.

1)   Give thanks to the Lord

3)   Make known his deeds

4)   Sing unto him

5)   Talk about his wondrous work

6)   Glory in his holy name

 (we will get to level 3 and 4  in a little bit)

Only one leper returns.  All were healed as far as we can tell from the scripture.  But only one stops and heads back to Jesus.

Can’t you see him?  This man runs back down the road yelling out loud and praising God.  The heads of people passing by must have been turning.  I doubt there was one person who passed who didn’t know this man had been heal.

I can think of so many times God answered my cries. Those moments when I had hit bottom and had no idea what I would do.  God acted and I knew it was Him.  I thanked him and my heart sang.  But to be honest, I don’t think I told others, I don’t think I called up praises or documented what God had done.

Those moments fade into my history and don’t become a building block for greater faith.  In fact, as time passes, I think I sometimes start second guessing did God act.  At the time, I know only God could have acted, but later I think maybe just coincidence or something I didn’t know about happened.   Those doubts actually bring down faith rather than building it.

Exercise

Earlier we made a list of times when we cried out to God and He answered.  Look at those moments.  How did you react to God’s answer to your prayer?  Did you run through town praising God and telling people what God had done?  Did you sing songs to God glorifying Him for what he had down?

I would like to spend our Thanksgiving working on treating one of those answered prayers as David would have treated it.  Or as this leper naturally treated it.