| Photo by Anson Antony on Unsplash
The Journey of following Jesus will test our faith in Him! We tend to think we have faith in the Lord until we are tested. Someone said, “Faith that is not tested cannot be trusted.” Only when we go through the journey and realize that there will be tests along the journey will we know if our faith in Jesus can be trusted.
In Luke 17: 11-19, we see Jesus on His journey towards Jerusalem and stop in a village where ten men had leprosy, and they could not enter the village because of leprosy. Lepers were outcasts, and could not be in a village, go to church, or be with people because of their disease. They see Jesus coming and yell to Him, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” (v. 11-13).
Leprosy is a type of sin in our lives. And sin separates us from God, and the only thing we can do is to call out to Jesus, just like the lepers. We must say, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on me.” That is admitting that Jesus is the only One that can save us from sin.
Then came the test; Jesus told the ten lepers to show yourselves to the priests. What if they did not move? What if they stayed there because they did not feel anything happening? What if they made excuses that nothing was happening? (How often do we make excuses for not trusting and obeying the Lord?)
In verse 14, we read, “As they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.” They were healed as they trusted Jesus and obeyed and moved toward the priests. How many of us are missing God’s touch in our lives because we are making excuses, not obeying, and doing what the Lord has told us to do.”
Then we see that Jesus commends one of the lepers that came back to thank the Lord! In verse 15, “One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God.” He fell to the ground at Jesus feet, thanking Him for what He had done.”
Today, let us be like the one leper who returned and thanked the Lord for all He had done in His life. Jesus is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving because of His blessings.
If the Lord has blessed you, start thanking Him for His many blessings. You cannot have a testimony if you do not go through the test! Thanksgiving will build your faith for the next test!
My prayer is: “I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise will be continually in my mouth.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Pastor Ronald Squibb has been the Lead Senior Pastor of the International Christian Church (ICC) at Staten Island, New York, since 2011. He draws many experiences from his over 40 years as a pastor and significant emotional life experiences.
His new book, Following the Journey with Jesus, which he co-authored with Daniel McNaughton, was recently published and is getting rave reviews. His daily devotional appears in this publication.
