For November 30, 2019
Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem when He encountered ten men who were lepers.1
Because of the contagious nature of their condition, and that they were regarded as a health risk, the men remained isolated from the public. Scripture is silent about their individual 
family situations, and of how long they had been suffering. However, the Bible does tell us that when Jesus arrived, all of them stood at a distance yelling for His attention and assistance: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
While looking at them intently, Jesus told the ten men to go show themselves to the priests. As they went their way to the priests, they were completely healed of their leprosy, and their skin was cleared and restored.
Luke 17:15-19 (NLT) tells what happens next:
One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”
No one can tell whether the nine others felt entitled as if they “deserved” God’s special attention and assistance. Yet the fact remains, only one of the ten lepers returned to Jesus to thank Him.
Only one would return to praise God and thank the Lord Jesus Christ for His wonderful intervention in his life. Truly, the man took to heart that he was a recipient of God’s loving kindness and tender mercy as demonstrated in the restoring of his health and well-being. He also understood that his life was now transformed from isolation to community—now having the opportunity to resume connections with family, friends, and loved ones.
Ultimately, he came to experience a loving, caring, living, personal, God who anxiously desires to intervene positively in our lives for (His glory and) our benefit.
Many of us today seem a bit shortsighted because we take the Lord’s blessings for granted. For example, we tend to forget how we are privileged to live in a country where we can freely worship, express our opinions without censorship, and travel where we want when we want without restrictions so that we can share a Thanksgiving meal with family and friends
Even more, we can thank God for sending us His Son to die for our sins, and to be raised for our justification. And we can thank the Lord for His Spirit, who is our “security deposit” towards our glorious, eternal, Heavenly home He prepared for all of us who love His appearing as 2 Timothy 4:8 teaches us.
During this time of reflection and celebration, let us praise God by giving thanks for His loving kindness and tender mercies. What a Wonderful Savior!