Punchlines (part 5)
Pete Stearns | July 17, 2022
We hope this guide will help you take the good news you hear today into your daily lives.
In this week’s scripture, we watch Jesus heal ten lepers. All but one, a Samaritan, go on about their lives after being healed. The Samaritan returns out of gratitude to Jesus and receives an even deeper healing.
Scripture and Notes
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 17:11-19 (NIV)
Going Deeper: Grateful Living
As shown by the Samaritan in Luke 17, gratitude is a loving and thankful response toward God for his presence with us and within this world.This week, prayerfully consider the following questions and spiritual exercises, found in the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Calhoun.
Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you live with a grateful heart, cognizant of God’s work in your life, and your abundant resources.
How has a grateful person affected your own vision of what matters in life? How has someone who lives out of bitterness affected your life?
How does your disposition influence your attitude toward gratitude? Have you ever felt addicted to criticism, analysis, or negativity? How might thankfulness be an antidote to a critical spirit?
Practicing Gratitude in Daily Life
-Begin a gratitude journal by keeping a record of “abundances” God has given you. Next to each abundance, write what it means to have a God who interacts and intervenes in your life.
-End every day by saying “thank you” to God for at least one thing. Tell God what that thing meant for you.
-Write a letter of thanks to someone who has touched your life in the past year, the past month, or the past week.
