For November 28, 2024
Thanksgiving is a time when we can reflect on all the things we’re grateful for. This includes the right to practice our faith freely and openly, the right to speak our minds without fear of retribution, and the ability to gather with friends and loved ones for Thanksgiving.
There are those who might assert a claim to these comforts and freedoms as a matter of entitlement. However, no individual can claim entitlement to it. We 
should be incredibly grateful for these privileges and want to express our sincere appreciation to God for them.
We should never discredit God’s goodness, but with gratitude, acknowledge His precious gifts of love and compassion given to us each day without fail. Our gratitude and reverence should mirror those of the man in Luke 17:11-17 (NIV), who expressed a profound appreciation for the Lord’s miraculous intervention.
While on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus encountered ten lepers who desperately needed healing for their severe skin disease, a condition that brought both physical pain and social isolation.
There’s no mention in Scripture of the length of their separation from their families or the extent of their loneliness. But it does record how as Jesus came closer, they yelled out together in desperation, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
Jesus looked at intently and told them to go and present themselves to the priests. They followed obediently, and as they walked, their skin cleared miraculously; their bodies healed, and the pain of their affliction was lifted miraculously.
One out of the ten, upon realizing he was cured, and filled with joy and thankfulness, turned back. Running to Jesus, he fell at His feet, and thanked the Lord with his whole heart. Ironically, this man was a Samaritan, a despised foreigner to the Jews—yet he alone returned.
Jesus looked at him with compassion and asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then He said to him, “Rise and go. Your faith has made you well.”
The man underwent a complete internal and external transformation. His faith in Christ created a new spiritual connection with God, allowing him to experience the depth of God’s grace, kindness, and mercy in ways he’d never experienced before.
Nevertheless, his physical recovery led to the reconciliation of his family and community ties. Though his physical recovery was remarkable, his return to everyday life was something beyond his greatest expectations.
Even today, our extraordinary God continues to shower us with love and care by recognizing each one of us as unique individuals yearning for his personal touch. Yet, like the nine lepers who were healed and didn’t acknowledge their Healer, we often take for granted our Caregiver and the blessings He gives us daily.
Here, we downplay the importance of maintaining fellowship with God through prayer, reading the Word, regular church attendance, sharing our faith, and Christian service. Not just the clergy are called to formal service. We all are called to “occupy until He comes” (Luke 19:13) as we anticipate the glorious return of is Son who will give us “a crown of righteousness.” as Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 4:8 (NIV).
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearing.
God made it possible for us to receive the gift of everlasting life. By repenting of our sin and placing our faith in Jesus Christ a Savior and Lord, we invite God’s grace and peace into our lives forever.
So as we celebrate this day of Thanksgiving, let us be inspired by the Samaritan leper who returned to the Lord, expressing praise and gratitude to the One True God, the source of blessings that are far more than we deserve. Could today be the day you decide to give Him your heart?
What a Wonderful Savior!