Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem  when ten lepers approached Him. Standing at a distance, as lepers were required to do, they called to Him: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Luke 17:13). When Jesus saw them, He commanded, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they journeyed they were healed.

One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back, threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him. “Where are the nine?” Jesus asked. Good question.

Jesus referred to the grateful man as a Samaritan—an outsider—perhaps to underline something He had previously said: “the sons of this world are more shrewd . . . than the sons of light” (16:8). In this passage “shrewd” means ‘thoughtful’. Sometimes people of the world have better manners than Jesus’ followers do.

During our busy lives we may forget to give thanks. Someone has done something for us like given a gift, performed a task, delivered a timely sermon or provided a word of counsel or comfort. But we fail to say thanks.

Has someone done something for you this week? Give that friend a call or send a thank you note. After all, “Love has good manners” (1 Cor. 13:5 Phillips).

We don’t need more to be thankful for,we just need to be more thankful.

Author

David H. Roper

Topics

Our Daily Bread