Topic: Grateful Heart [Thursday July 27, 2017]
Text: Luke 17:11-19
Key Verse: “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God” (Luke 17:15).
The story is told of one Allen Gardiner, a missionary who drowned in a boat accident as he rowed out for a missionary journey. His body was found near his capsised boat along the seashore. The entries in his diary revealed a catalogue of the miseries he experienced all through the journey – hunger, deprivations, suffering and persecutions.
Yet, his last entry read thus: “I am overwhelmed with a sense of the goodness of God”. Now that is a gorgeous heart focusing on God’s blessings exclusively. Sadly, today such hearts are in short supply. Ostracised, the ten lepers had no choice but to flock together. Desperate, determined and in dire need of restoration, they pleaded passionately for attention when the Saviour showed up. They received healing in a dramatic reversal of rules by the Master. Nine of them, all Jews obviously in a celebratory frenzy headed home thoughtlessly.
Only one, a Samaritan returned to worship God in a stunning show of brokenness and gratitude. Christ took notice, confirmed and perfected his healing. Sin, like leprosy of old, still isolates man from having fellowship with God and his saints. All sinners must desist from transgression. Just like the ten lepers, they should passionately call on God and plead for mercy. Christ is the solution to Satan’s nature of sin. Forgiveness is offered by His mercy. Those who have been cleansed must constantly guard against contamination from the present evil world.
Salvation comes at a huge cost, but Christ picked up the bill. We must constantly reflect that light of God in us. Soul-winning is vitally necessary as proof of our appreciation of God’s tender mercies towards us. A daily life of praises and thanksgiving garnishes our relationship with God in no small measure.
Thought for the day: A grateful heart is a glorious haven.
Bible Reading in one Year: Exodus 37-38
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.