November 26 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Luke 17:11–19

Devotional

One leper returned to Christ to give thanks for the miracle done to him. This one was a Samaritan. The other nine lepers were Jews and knew even better than this man that by law they must return to the temple. They knew that Christ had healed them. They had been better instructed than the Samaritan leper, but they were content with being Abraham’s children. They thought they had enough by being a child of Abraham according to the flesh.

When you are a child of Abraham, and yet have not become a stranger to the world, when you are not a child of God that clings to God’s promises, then you still have rights. When you still have rights, there can never be true thankfulness in your heart. When you still have rights you will never realize that His gifts are miracles of grace. This is where the nine lepers were wrong. And therein lies the fault with us as well. If we still have rights, we will not have true thankfulness.

The one leper was made whole for time and eternity. The Lord said to him, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” He had glorified God with a loud voice, and he had come back to the feet of Christ. His giving glory to God led to His salvation. This is how it always is and not the other way around. We must first glorify God from the position of our own unworthiness. The leper did this and it led to his eternal salvation. The man was healed both physically and spiritually. Body and soul were given new life!

By looking at the account of the ten lepers we know what thanksgiving is. Thanksgiving is to return and to not let the Benefactor go. It is to exalt God, not with shouting or lots of outward clamour—not even with religious clamour—but to glorify God in the dust. That is salvation. This man received much, and when he returned he received everything, namely salvation.

To be in the dust before God is a blessed place and a necessary place. The gifts we receive will eventually be lost. We cannot take any gifts with us when we die, not even one. But we will never be able to lose the One who gave so much. The Giver Himself goes along with us, even when all the gifts are taken away. He will never forsake His people. God can never forget those who are lying in the dust before Him.

Some may think that thankfulness means to rejoice, while they have never realized that to be thankful always involves confessing that they are unworthy. Some think that to be thankful is to shout aloud with their lips; yet God is only exalted when a sinner lies in the dust before Him. Only then can it be a true thanksgiving.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.