“Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalm 107:8).

We learn at a young age to say “Thank You” for simple things like a cookie or a toy. Hopefully gratitude becomes a habit that carries over into our adult life. Children aren’t always truly thankful and often feel they deserve a gift given to them, but still they need to learn to say those words of thanksgiving. So do Christians.

We should never take God’s love for granted. Do you ever tell Him, “Thank You?”

King David wrote “…It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most high” (Psalm 92:1).

That almost seems like an understatement. It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord. It is a very, very, very good thing. God gives us the air we breathe, the water we drink, sunshine, jobs, food…everything comes from Him. He gave us our salvation. As His children, we need to thank Him more and complain less.

“Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD” (Psalm 150:6).

David knew how to praise God and the psalms are filled with gratitude for all He provides. You might think it was easy for David to be thankful because he was a king, but he had many troubles and fell short of honoring God many times.

King Saul wanted to kill him, his children were rebellious, he fought many battles with men and giants, and then there was that adultery incident where David made sure the woman’s husband died in battle. That doesn’t sound like a poster boy for honoring God!

David was human and had troubles just like we do today, but he always went to God for forgiveness and with praise. Many of the Psalms he wrote are filled with thanksgiving and praise. One of the most joyous psalms is the one he wrote after bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.

“So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God. And when David had made an end of offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD” (1 Chronicles 16:1-2).

First David honored God with various offerings, then he blessed the people, then appointed men to minister before the Ark. worshipping God.

“And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel” (1 Chronicles 16:4).

It would be wonderful to have a government leader who honored God Almighty and blessed the people. Then David gave a psalm of thanks to Asaph.

“O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works” (1 Chronicles 16:8-9 and Psalm 105:1-2).

As Christians we need to follow David’s example of honoring God and being filled with thankfulness and praise. How often do you thank God for His blessings?

“O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness” (Psalm 30:3-4).

David looked forward to the coming Messiah and sang praises to the LORD…to Yĕhovah, the Existing One. David praised Him because He brought his soul up from shĕ’owl, that is the abode of the dead, the grave. Christians today look back to the cross and we have so much to rejoice over, to be thankful for, and to sing praises about. The grave has no hold upon us.

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).

Praise God! Praise our Lord Jesus Christ who took away the sting of death and conquered the grave when He arose victorious on the third day after His crucifixion. When a Christian dies there is no death. We slip from this mortal life and our soul is immediately with our Lord.

“We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).

Thank You, Jesus, for this wonderful gift.

How many times have you been talking with a friend or a co-worker and hear them say, “Thank god” for one thing or another? Do you ever ask them which god they are thanking? If they are a Christian, then maybe they truly are thanking God, but most people say “thank god” just as a phrase with no meaning.

Christians have so much to be thankful for and should truly thank God for everything.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:3-6).
Have you thanked Him for your salvation? Not with an off-hand “thank god” but with true thankfulness which comes from the depth of your soul.

Life can get overwhelming sometimes and it is easy to not feel very “thankful for anything. When the money runs out before the bills are paid or maybe you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a life threatening disease. Those are the times when we need to keep God’s praises upon our lips.

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

The Christians in Thessalonica faced hard times and persecution for their faith. This was a time when Christians were thrown to the lions for entertainment and many other horrors were commonplace. Today the persecution of Christians who live in Muslim countries is similar to the persecution of those early Christians, and it is spreading.

Did Paul really mean to be thankful for these trials? Actually he said “in” everything give thanks, not “for” everything. Certainly we cannot be thankful when cancer is diagnosed, or someone else gets that big promotion, or a fellow Christian is beheaded because of their faith in Jesus. In these trials we still need to thank God and sing His praises. He will take you through troubles and be your strength when you are weak. That’s something for which to be thankful.

“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” Colossians 1:12-14.

No matter what befalls a Christian, we can be thankful for our salvation. We have an inheritance that is eternal and have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Thank God.

God has never wanted to be separated from us, but sin did just that. Separation from God is a lonely, dark, and empty place to be. He gave the Law to Moses as the first step in solving the separation problem.

“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Galatians 3:24-25.

There were many sacrifices under the Law which covered sin, but sin was never taken away by these sacrifices. Only the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary can take sin away. Faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus brings redemption.

By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Hebrews 10:10.

Thank God! Truly, thank God!! He fulfilled the Law, so when we accept Him as our once for all sacrifice we are no longer under the Law. “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” Hebrews 13:15. The animal sacrifices no longer have meaning, but we should always bring the sacrifice of praise before Him. He sacrificed everything for us. We can think about it and ponder on it, but we will never fully understand what our salvation cost our Lord.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 6:21).

How can you not be thankful for what He did for you? God almighty became human and gave His life to purchase our salvation. Thank You, my precious Lord.

Like King David before us we need to sing praises to God. Like Paul we need to give thanks in all things whether being thrown in prison, beaten, or just having a bad day. What He did for us we couldn’t do for ourselves. If that isn’t worth our gratitude and praise I don’t know what is.

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

Thank You, Jesus. Thank You.

God bless you all,

Nathele Graham

The Law of Moses foreshadowed Jesus who fulfilled the Law. Leprosy was a devastating disease and the Law gave directions on how to diagnose it and how to make one clean if they were healed. Leprosy destroyed a person’s life and symbolically it represents sin and judgment.

For instance, King Uzziah was filled with pride and defied God by entering the Temple to burn incense upon the altar. God only allowed priests to serve in the Temple, not kings. The priest Azariah took 80 priests and withstood the king.

“Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar” (2 Chronicles 26:19).

God judged Uzziah’s sin by afflicting him with leprosy and he lived in isolation the rest of his life. Leprous people had to be separated from everyone they loved and their only friends were other lepers.
It’s easy to see why leprosy is used in the Bible to represent sin and judgment. It started with a small spot that probably wouldn’t be noticed by anyone. Eventually the nerves became damaged and the person became desensitized. Hot water wouldn’t be felt and stubbing a toe wouldn’t hurt.

Sin also starts small. First there’s a little white lie. Then it becomes easy to tell darker lies.
The desensitizing process continues and the lies grow bigger. Pick any sin and it works the same way. Peeking at smutty magazines will grow to an addiction to pornography if unchecked. Swiping a candy bar from the store can easily grow into larger crimes.

“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth for death” (James 1:14-15).

Like the leper, a person fully engulfed in sin becomes separated from family and friends. Soon his only friendships are with others who are also desensitized to sin. Leviticus chapter 13 describes the process of diagnosing leprosy.

“When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or a bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy: then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests” (Leviticus 13:2).

Priests were trained to know the difference between leprosy and a boil or other skin condition. If the diagnoses was leprosy, the person’s life was shattered.

“And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be” (Leviticus 13:45-46).

That seems drastic but healthy people needed to be protected. Isn’t it odd that today we embrace the lepers? It seems that people who are fully engulfed by the leprosy of sin are accepted by everyone, even by Christians. The disease is spreading to the point where many Christians have become desensitized to sin.

Paul told the Corinthians to turn a chronic sinner out of the congregation, but when he turned from his sin they were to welcome him back. Chronic sin needs to be dealt with and each one of us needs to examine our own selves by the light of God’s Word in order to cleanse the leprosy of sin from our life.
God gave Moses the process for how the priests were to determine if a person had leprosy. They could diagnose the disease but there was no cure. There are a couple of instances in the Old Testament where leprosy was cured, but those were isolated cases that God used in order to make a point.

Miriam and Aaron had criticized Moses for marrying a Gentile…an Ethiopian woman. Miriam and Aaron were both very vocal against Moses and God became angry with them. Miriam was judged with leprosy.
“And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow; and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous” (Numbers 12:9-10).

Aaron was the priest and he looked upon Miriam and saw the leprosy in her.

“And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned” (Numbers 12:11).

Like King Uzziah, the sin in Miriam took the form of leprosy. Moses made an intercessory prayer.
“And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee” (Numbers 12:12).

God did heal her. Then there was a Gentile named Naaman. He was a captain in the Syrian army and he had leprosy. The Syrians had taken captives from Israel, and among them was a young girl who became a servant for Naaman’s wife. It was this servant girl who mentioned that the prophet Elisha could cure Naaman’s leprosy and a message was sent to him. Elisha replied with a message.

“And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean” (2 Kings 5:10).

At first Naaman’s pride got in the way of being cured. Elisha had only sent a message rather than coming himself and Naaman was miffed. Eventually he did what Elisha directed and he was cleansed of the leprosy. Pride is a sin and it gets in the way of our obedience to God.

Miriam was Jewish and Naaman was a Gentile and these two instances are unique, but they foreshadowed the coming Messiah who would be the only cleansing for all people. Leprosy remained incurable, so why do we read in Leviticus chapter 14 the process to declare a leper clean? A leper who thought he had been cured was to be brought to the priest for examination.

“Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop” (Leviticus 14:4).

One of the birds was to be killed in an earthen vessel over running water. Then the living bird, the cedar wood, the scarlet, and the hyssop were to be dipped in the blood of the sacrificed bird and the blood would be sprinkled on the once leprous person, then the bird was set free. After more rituals the leper would be isolated for seven days. On the eighth day he was to take two unblemished male lambs, one unblemished ewe lamb, flour, and oil.

“And the priest that maketh him clean shall present the man that is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation” (Leviticus 14:11).

One of the lambs would be slain for a trespass offering and the blood would be put on the right ear, thumb, and great toe of the one to be cleansed. The oil would then be sprinkled before the LORD then put on the right ear, thumb, and great toe. The remainder would be poured over the head of the one beinh cleansed. Blood of the lamb and oil were used to cleanse a leper. The other lambs would be slain for sin and burnt offerings.

This takes on a deeper meaning when we remember that leprosy, an incurable disease, is a “type” of our incurable sin. Pride, envy, and anger are just a few of the sins we need to take to Jesus every day. Only the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, can take our sin away.

“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world’” (John 1:29).

Often a bird (specifically a dove) represents the Holy Spirit.

“And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God” (John 1:32-34).

God became flesh and entered His Creation. He is our sacrifice who takes away our sins. Just as the clean bird was killed in an earthen vessel as an offering to cleanse a leper, Jesus was sacrificed in the earthen vessel of His human body and shed His blood for a sinner like me.

Lamb of God was slain to take away the sin of the world, yet He lives. Our sin is cleansed by His righteousness, not by our own righteousness. We continue to fight the disease of sin, but by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus our sins are forgiven.

As Jesus was heading to Jerusalem knowing that He would be arrested and crucified, He came to a village where ten leprous men lived. Their disease isolated them from people, but when they saw Jesus they called out to Him. Could He…would He heal them? The hope within them must have been great.

“And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us” (Luke 17:13).

Leprosy separated them from Jesus, but they called out for mercy and Jesus gave simple instructions.
“And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed” (Luke 17:14).

It was the priests who diagnosed leprosy, but as we learned from Leviticus chapter 14, it was also the priests who would declare them clean. These ten men were healed while going to the priest and should have been overjoyed with thanksgiving. Their lives would be restored; they could be with their loved ones again.

Now, think about this. Jesus, the Great High Priest, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, sent these ten men to a mortal priest for examination.

The blood that would be sprinkled upon these men was symbolic of the blood that Jesus would soon shed on the cross at Calvary. The men would be anointed with oil symbolizing the Holy Spirit which would soon be available for all of mankind. It would only take faith. The priest would present these men before the Lord (Leviticus 14:11). But in fact, it was the Lord who had cleansed these ten lepers and sent them to the priest!

Those ten men recognized Jesus and even called Him “Master”. They asked for His mercy and hurried off to the priest to be declared clean.

“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God. And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan” (Luke 17:15-16).

God’s mercy fell upon all ten, but only the Samaritan expressed his gratitude. It’s easy to criticize these men for not expressing gratitude to Jesus, yet how many times do we take His mercy for granted? We all have the leprous disease of sin upon us. Only His mercy can completely cleanse a person who calls out to Him in faith.

Jesus noticed that only one of the ten thanked Him.

“And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger” (Luke 17:17-18).

Have you been cleansed of the sin in your life by faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus? Do you thank Him? He notices. The Samaritan didn’t tiptoe up to Jesus and whisper, “Thanks.” He glorified God with a loud voice and he fell at Jesus’ feet giving thanks.

“And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole” (Luke 17:19).

Faith. Jesus told the man it was faith that made him whole. That’s how we are saved, cleansed, and made whole. Faith.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Only faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus can bring salvation. He willingly went to the cross for you. Take time right now to send a prayer of thanksgiving to the One who deserves all of our gratitude. He does notice.

God bless you all,
Nathele Graham