Thanksgiving 2022

Happy Thanksgiving!! This year I am reminded of so many things I am grateful for. God has been so good to me and I am very thankful for this wonderful Truth. I am also thankful for my family and church family and for what the Lord is doing in our lives. God has opened up a huge door for our church this year and we are rejoicing. I plan to do a blog post soon sharing more details 🙂

In preparation for teaching Sunday school this week, I was reminded of the story of Jesus healing the 10 lepers in Luke 17:11-19.

11 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

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.

17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

In the story, Jesus heals 10 lepers and only ONE of them returns back after being healed to say thank you. All 10 of them cried out to Jesus for a healing and He healed each of them. But the Bible tells us in this chapter that only one of the healed lepers came back to thank the Lord for answering his prayer and for healing him. Not only did he go and thank Jesus but he did it with a loud voice and he fell down on his face and glorified Him. I love how the AMP version says verse 16,

 16 and he lay face downward at Jesus’ feet, thanking Him [over and over]. He was a Samaritan.

This man thanked Jesus over and over again even after he had already received his miracle, even after his prayer had already been answered. It’s also significant to point out that this man was a Samaritan man, he was a Gentile. The Jews did not interact with the Samaritans, and many Jews would not even travel through Samaria to avoid contact with the Samaritans. Yet the other nine were Jews and only the Samaritan came back to thank Jesus for what He had done. Jesus’s response to the Samaritan was beautiful, He told him it was because of his faith that he was made whole.

Jesus questioned where the other nine were at. They received their miracle, and they left, never to return and thank the Lord for what He had done for them. And this story had me thinking about the times Jesus has healed me, protected me, blessed me, etc., and I forgot to come back and thank Him. Sometimes after we have received our miracle, after the Lord has answered our prayers and petitions, we go on with our lives and forget all of the wonderful things He has done for us. Our lives may not be perfect, perhaps we’re the only ones in our family living for God, or we need a healing, a financial blessing, or for our prodigals family members to come home. But while we are waiting and even AFTER the Lord has answered our prayers, let’s not forget to come back and thank the Lord. Because He is good and worthy to be praised!

Thanksgiving is a time of reflection on what we are thankful for. But I pray we have the spirit of thankfulness upon us all year long. I want to be like the Samaritan man who Jesus healed of leprosy. I want to come back to the Lord and say thank you even years after He has answered my prayers. I want to come and thank Jesus over and over again for all He has done for me. I would encourage all of us to reflect on what the Lord has done for us and to take time to thank Him for it all ❤

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’m thankful for each of you! I would love to hear about some of the things you are thankful for this year if you’d like to share in the comments! God bless! 😀

16 Rejoice evermore.

17 Pray without ceasing.

18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18