Christmas Countdown - Dec 17

Jesus Heals 10 Lepers  (Luke 17:11)

Jesus was walking toward the city one day, and ten men were gathered a ways off by the road He was walking on.  They had a disease called leprosy, and they had to live far away from other people, so that others would not catch the disease.  When they saw Him, they cried out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"  Jesus saw them and answered, "Go, show yourselves to the priests."  And as they started walking toward the temple where the priests were, they were healed!  One man, when he saw that he was healed, turned around and ran back to Jesus, falling at His feet, praising God and saying "Thank You" over and over again. Jesus said, "Where are the other nine men?  Weren't there ten men who were healed?"  Then he said to the man who came back, "Arise and go your way.  Your faith has made you well."

All ten of the men were healed - and they were SO happy!!!  Now they could go home to their families and live in their towns again.  They were glad that they were healed.  But only ONE man recognized that it was God who had healed him, and went back to worship and thank Him.  Jesus told that man that His faith had made him well.  

All the men had their bodies healed, but only the One who recognized Jesus as God was healed inside, where no one but God could see.  God does many good things for us - He gives us air to breathe, and food to eat, a family to love and care for us, the sun in the sky to keep us warm - but He wants us to love Him for who He is, not just for what He does for us.  The man who came back knew that it was great to be healed, but it was even greater to have met Jesus, God Himself!  

(the link to the full post is: http://elizabethtreger.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-countdown-dec-17.html)