Devotional:

REMEMBER YOUR FIRST LOVE

Lk. 17:12-19

Then as He (Jesus) entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? “Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

And He said to him,

“Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” NKJ

In this chapter (vs. 5-19) we see faith at work and faith increased through obedience. When Jesus entered the village He was met by ten believers whose faith was revealed in their cries out to the only One whom they knew could heal them of their leprosy. Without question, in faith, all ten obeyed Jesus’ command to show themselves to the priest as proof they were cleansed of their leprosy. Their faith was exercised and put to work as they went, and without a doubt it was increased when they saw themselves cleansed. At this point the story takes a turn. Only one of the men returned to thank the Lord for healing him, and he was not a Jew. The other nine appear to be ungrateful for God’s grace and by the Lord’s response I would say this is true. However I would like to take a different approach at looking at the nine men who did not return.

I will speculate and say that those men went on to the priest as commanded and fulfilled their religious duty to the Lord. In doing so they felt they were giving thanks. How many times do we fall into this same mindset? We serve in ministry, do good deeds in the name of the Lord, preach and teach, then walk around as if we are doing God a favor.

The church of Ephesus in Revelation 2 was described by the Lord as a hard working church. They held fast to the truth, and did not tolerate evil people; they persevered patiently for His name’s sake and did not get weary of doing good. Yet the Lord had this against them, they had replaced their love for Him with the doing of ministry.

I can imagine the trouble I would be in if I only talked to my wife when I desperately needed something, but the rest of the time simply fulfilled my duty as a faithful husband, and provider. My wife like our Lord requires intimacy. He wants us to seek His face at all times and just spend time with Him sitting at His feet. He remembers the love affair we had with Him when we first met Him. He knows how we pour our hearts to Him when in need, but He desires, even requires, that we pursue Him at all times with that same fervent love. So like the leper who returned giving thanks, let’s return to our first love by spending personal time intimately with Jesus, not for what He does, but for who He is.

Daryl Kyle