Am I Like the Nine?

11 While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee.

12 As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him;

13 and they raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"

14 When He saw them, He said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they were going, they were cleansed.

15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice,

16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan.

17 Then Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine--where are they?

18 "Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?"

19 And He said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has made you well."

When I think about God's goodness in my life I often think of this incident in Luke 17. I wonder: Am I like the one who returned to give thanks? Or am I like the nine? I'm sure they were happy. Maybe they even felt some sense of gratitude. So why didn't they do as their comrade?

I suspect they were too caught up in what they had to do next. Their lives had been decimated by their disease. They'd lost everything; homes, families, employment. Now that they'd been restored there was just too much to do. But it wouldn't have taken much to say, "Thank you" like their friend. And it seems as if the Lord expected it.

We've so much to be thankful for, don't we? Maybe it's time for us to turn our once yearly day of Thanksgiving into everyday thanks-living.