Luke 17:11-19
Rebecca Lightfoot
N Luke17:11-19,Jesus has 10 people w leprosy call out to him to have pity on them(vs13b,”Jesus,Master,have pity in us!”).These guys r just like us when we have a desperate need or situation n our life.These needs/situations will humble us for the moments we r n despair...enough for us to turn to Jesus as our only TRUE hope for help.N desperation for help,we come to Jesus for HELP!When we come to Him n earnest,Jesus never tells us “to get lost”,nor will he ever b silent!Jesus always offers “a way” through &beyond the the desperate “moments” of our life!As they say there r no atheists n fox holes...when we r desperate we will often turn to God!N one way or another,He will always make His Presence known n these moments of ours.But,like the nine that went on their merry way after Jesus “intervened” n their lives,we tend to do the same-not having our lives changed by the fact that The Living God made Himself Known to us for a moment n our lives when we truly turned to Him!These 9 turned to the Lord when they had a NEED!But,once they felt better about themselves,they turned away from The Lord & didn’t come back!Only 1 came back once he felt better about himself(vs17-18).Only this 1 found what he needed beyond his desperate need/situation.This 1 found what he needed for his LIFE!When this 1 comes back to Jesus...,Jesus tells him,”Rise & go;your faith has made u well.”This 1 found much more than being healed of leprosy! This 1 found what he needed for LIFE!When this 1 turned back to Jesus & gave himself to Jesus(vs16,”He threw himself at Jesus & thanked him...”),Jesus didn’t take anything from him!Jesus gave this 1 what he needed for LIFE!This 1 had been made well infinitely beyond being healed of leprosy!His faith n Christ that compelled him to turn away from his previous life & to Christ...made him well beyond temporal measure!That is what Jesus is referring to here!Whenever we cry out to Jesus because of a desperate need/situation,Jesus always offers us much more than addressing ONLY that need/situation!May we always b like the 1 that came back and threw himself/gave himself to Jesus.Dear Jesus,I have so many times been just like the 9 that turned away.... Forgive me for not genuinely appreciating nor being humbled by what You have done for me!May Your Ways n and around my life always humble me and always may my heart/life b drawn back to You as this 1 n Luke17.