Faith And Gratitude

by Pastor Mark
October 13, 2022

 

Cultivating a heart of gratitude

As disciples of the Lord, it should be most natural for us to express gratitude with a genuine heart. Yet, we tend to take things for granted and not give thanks to God for His blessings upon our life. We do not appreciate what we have received and tend to assume that God would always give us these blessings. It reflects a faith that is weak and immature. A spirit of thanksgiving is very much linked to our faith. This was a vital lesson that the Lord Jesus taught His disciples.

The initial faith of the ten lepers

  1. As Jesus entered a village, He was met by a group of ten lepers (Luke 17:12).
  2. The lepers probably heard about the Lord Jesus coming.
  3. They gained knowledge of the Lord Jesus through hearing about Him.
  4. They left their colony together in search of the Lord Jesus.
  5. It revealed that they had some faith in the Lord Jesus.

The hope of the lepers

  1. Faith would lead to hope.
  2. The ten lepers had hope in the Lord Jesus and what He could do for them.
  3. They pleaded with the Lord Jesus for mercy and to heal them (Luke 17:13).
  4. They saw Jesus as Master and themselves as humble servants.
  5. The Lord showed mercy and told them to show themselves to the priests (Luke 17:14).
  6. The lepers believed the words of Jesus and obeyed Him in faith and hope.
  7. They were cleansed of their leprosy as they made their way there.
  8. Their faith and hope in the Lord were realised.

Faith and gratitude of the Samaritan leper

  1. Yet, only the Samaritan leper responded further by showing his appreciation (Luke 17:15).
  2. He returned to the Lord Jesus first and gave glory to Him with joy (Luke 17:15).
  3. He humbled himself before Him by falling at His feet (Luke 17:16).
  4. The man was very awed before the Lord and gave thanks to Him (Luke 17:16).
  5. His faith caused him to have a deep sense of gratitude for being healed of his leprosy.

The problem of taking the Lord for granted

  1. The nine Jewish lepers did not return to the Lord as the Samaritan leper did.
  2. The Lord Jesus noticed this and He asked where they were (Luke 17:17).
  3. It is astonishing that after all the Lord had done for them, they took Him for granted.
  4. If the Lord had not healed them, they would have continued to be condemned as lepers.
  5. Yet, they did not show gratitude by glorifying God (Luke 17:18).

The commendation of the faith of the Samaritan leper

“And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”” (Luke 17:19)

  1. This was the kind of faith that the Lord Jesus was looking for.
  2. The Samaritan leper expressed faith in showing great gratitude to the Lord.
  3. The Lord honoured him by commending his faith.
  4. His faith had made him well, physically and spiritually.
  5. The Lord taught this essential point to all, including the disciples.
  6. It took a “foreigner”…a Samaritan leper to teach what faith and gratitude were about.

Let us be challenged to cultivate a faith that would not take things for granted but would always express a deep heart of gratitude to the Lord for all He has done for us.

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