People were beginning to notice something different about this man. He had just delivered the greatest sermon they had ever heard.
According to Matthew, as Jesus was coming down from the mountain with crowds still in awe about what they just heard, He was met by a leper, a social outcast, who knelt before Him saying, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.”[1]
We can only imagine what was going through His disciples’ minds in this moment.
According to Jewish Law, lepers were considered unclean and anyone who touched a leper contracted temporary ritual impurity.[2]
This leprous man somehow made his way covertly through the crowd and His disciples to somehow get close enough to Jesus to make his request.
What did Jesus do?
He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.
Matthew 8:3-4 NRSV
What’s interesting here, is that in the accounts of this miracle as recorded in both Mark and Luke’s gospels, there is an added detail. As noted above, after Jesus cleansed the leper, He told him not say anything to anyone, but to go and show himself to the priest, with the gift commanded in the Law, as a testimony.
The gift was, in essence, a gift of thanksgiving testifying to what God had done in his life. But instead of doing what Jesus told him to do and keep the miracle quiet, the leper did the complete opposite. He told everyone he could!
But how could it not be noticed that a former leper, a social outcast, was now clean and able to move about freely amongst his family, new friends, and neighbors.
Understand, it was this former leper’s testimony that caused Jesus’ ministry to not only go viral, but also change the way Jesus would approach His ministry going forward.
The more people Jesus found His ministry was reaching, the more Jesus realized He needed to withdraw more often to deserted places to pray.
Thanksgiving often marks those moments in our journey where we have experienced a change or transition. Something happened or someone did something for us that we recognize as something positive. It changed something in our lives by meeting a need or filling a desire in which we now feel prompted to express gratitude in return.
Recognizing how our lives have been blessed helps us to make the most out of the life and seasonal transitions we have been given to live out here on earth.
Like mining for gold, thanksgiving calls us to find and extract the most value from the journey we have traveled and the transitions we have had to navigate through. It calls us to recognize and testify to who God is in our lives and what He has done.
It recognizes the good things and good people who have been a blessing in our lives, and it deepens those relationships. It’s a disposition that deals directly with the negative perspective that can sometimes cloud our vision of what’s happened and what could happen.
Looking for something to be thankful for helps us to find something positive in almost every circumstance. And the benefit of doing it is that it changes us—our perspective and how we feel—about the past, present, and the future going forward.
Here’s a SIMPLE TIP:
Make to time to pray and look for something to be thankful for everyday. And be open to sharing with someone else what God has done in your life.
You’ll not only be deepening you faith and renewing your life, you’ll also become a vessel of the Lord’s ministry by becoming a healing reminder of His love to all whose lives you may touch.
But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to Him from every quarter. Mark 1:45 NRSV
Mark 1:45 NRSV
But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear Him and to be cured of their diseases. But He would withdraw to deserted places and pray.
Luke 5:15-16 NRSV
- [1] Matthew 8:1-2.
- [2] Leviticus 13:45-46.
Article Postscript:
If you feel led, encourage someone else by sharing this article, or perhaps another article that was an encouragement to you. This one action could be a real game-changer in their life. With God, all things are possible!!