One Came Back And Got Something Extra

Ten men with leprosy called out to Jesus. All ten were healed on the road. One turned around and came back.

The other nine were not punished. They got their skin back and their lives back and went home to their families. Nothing was taken from them.

But Jesus said something to the one who returned that He did not say to the rest. Luke 17:19 says, "Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole." Whole is a bigger word than healed. Nine got their bodies fixed. One walked away with something in him that had changed.

Ingratitude is not really rudeness. It is a slow narrowing, where you stop seeing anything except what is still missing, and then you live in a permanent shortage that is not actually true.

Philippians 4:6 says, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Thanksgiving sits right inside the asking. Not as a technique to get more out of Him. Start small and out loud, for the meal, the person who checked on you, the body that got you through the day. The Holy Spirit uses that to shift what you can see.

Psalm 107:1 says, "O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever." That is the reason underneath all of it. Not because it works on Him, because it is true about Him.