"Nine? Or One?" April 26 Readings: 1 Samuel 11-12, Luke 17:1–19, Psalm 51:15–19, Proverbs 11:23-24

 

 

Reading the Bible in 2023

Each day this year we will read a selection from the Old Testament, the New Testament, a portion of the Psalms, and part of Proverbs. By the end of the year, you will have read the entire Bible. We read this way to give you a bit of variety. In reading four portions of God's word in a day, one of them is bound to speak to your life!

NOTE: if you get behind, do not give up. Read today's readings and try to catch up when you have a chance. The goal is not to "accomplish a task" but to meet God in his word. Read the word. Also, if you are short on time, READ GOD'S WORD and skip my devotional!

Bible Readings: 1 Samuel 11-12, Luke 17:1–19, Psalm 51:15–19, Proverbs 11:23-24

    Scriptures linked to Bible Gateway in ESV version 

Daily Devotional:  Nine? Or One?

In one of the better-known stories of the life of Jesus, one that we tell our children often, Luke 17:11-19 records the story of Jesus healing ten lepers. Each of them returns to their lives rejoicing in the fact that they are no longer exiled and ostracized from home and family. It is my guess that each of them was immensely grateful to the one who had healed them.

But only one of them bothered to take the time to go back to Jesus and actually express that thanksgiving. The other nine were not evil, ungrateful, or thoughtless jerks. They just forgot to take the time to tell the Healer how thankful they were to be healed. I'm guessing they were so excited to go home and tell their families the good news that they just forgot. But whatever the reason. They forgot. They did not return to say thank you to the Savior.

That is me, far too often.

In the last couple of years, I've been through some stresses, trials, heartaches, and burdens. That is called normal, I guess. But I also have a truckload of blessings that have come from the hand of God. If I lost everything else in this world, I would still have Jesus who saved me and gave me forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and an eternal home in heaven. If there was nothing else, I could spend all day giving thanks for that. But there is so much else. My home and family. My job and my church (for me, those are actually the same thing). God answers prayer and provides for my needs. My life has been one blessing after another.

I tend to forget that. I have spent days brooding, moody, thinking about some people who have hurt me and the pain that has caused. I never stopped to thank God for the blessings he has given me that vastly outweigh my hurts - even on my worst day.

Count your blessings, name them one by one.
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done. 

The words to that hymn are a fitting warning to me. I need to count my blessings day by day to remind myself that God's work in and through me is always more intense than whatever opposition I might face. God's grace is more powerful than life's hardships. God's goodness is more significant than people's meanness.

Father, forgive me for how often I've been among the nine, those that receive your blessings but fail to thank you for them. Thank you for every good and perfect gift which flows from you. Help me to consider your goodness and give thanks for it. 

Consider God's Word:

Did one of these passages speak strongly to you today? Which one? 

Is there sin in your life that needs to be confessed and dealt with that was revealed in one of these passages? 

Is there a struggle in your life that one of these passages spoke to? 

Are you constantly grateful to God for his grace, or are you more like the nine who failed to thank him?