Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

November 22, 2001

Luke 17:11-19

Are You the One?

INTRODUCTION:  Do you want to get rich quick?  Then count your blessings!  There were ten who were healed of the worst possible disease of leprosy. The ten came to Jesus and begged for mercy. All ten obeyed when Jesus told them to go to the priest to show they were clean and cured. But only one came back to thank Jesus. Here are some of the most scathing and tragic words Jesus ever uttered, "Were not ten cleansed?" Where are the nine?"  The grateful one was a Samaritan, a half-breed despised by the Jews. It is still the ratio of grateful people, one out of ten? Are you the one?

How you can be the one who is grateful…

1.   Recognize your blessings - v. 15 When he saw that he was healed. A miracle had taken place. Once the man was ill. Now he was whole. Once he had a death sentence. Now he had new life given to him. Such miracles take place each and every day.  The question for you and me to ponder is this, do we recognize these miracles?  It isn’t fortune, or fate, or accident. Our times are in His hands. Count you blessings one by one. Recognize that the Lord has truly blessed you. Look around at all of the countless blessings and gifts that the Lord has given to you. We truly are a blessed people. Thanksgiving causes us to stop and take inventory of the blessings given to us from God.

2.   Return to thank Jesus -vv. 15,16 Turned back…giving him thanks. Only one man returned. His actions will always be remembered. He simply stopped and went back from where he had gone. He returned back to the Lord for He remembered from where he had come.  Again, this is such an illustration for us to follow. When we recognize the blessings, which the Lord has given to us what is our response. Do we hoard it all for ourselves?

      Do we save and keep it all or do we return a portion back to God?  Thanksgiving is a time for us to stop in the midst of our busy lives and to be genuinely grateful. Is this not why you have come here today. There are countless other things you could be doing. But you have done that one thing needful. You have returned back to the Lord to give Him thanks and praise.

3.   Realize your unworthiness - v. 16 "He fell on his face at Jesus' feet” This man knew of his condition. He knew that he was unworthy to receive any of the gifts and blessings, which the Lord had showered down upon Him. That is why he fell at Jesus’ feet. He returned to the Lord in humility. What is our attitude before God?  Is it one of indifference or is it one of humble obedience and gratitude as the Lord has had mercy upon us.  The proper position is this one man on his knees. He humbled Himself before the Lord for he realized that He had come into presence of the Lord.

CONCLUSION:  Are you the one?  With a grateful heart you most certainly are. On this day of National Thanksgiving may we render to the Lord our thanks and praise for His mercy upon us in spite of our sins and shortcomings, for His mercy, and for the miracles, which He places before us each and every day.  Life is a gift from God, may yours count as a gift back to God. A Blessed Thanksgiving. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.