Sunday
Morning Bible Study
October
23, 2016
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved? Regular: 2900 words Communion:
2500 words Video=75wpm
Luke was a doctor and a traveling
companion of the apostle Paul.
He wrote this book while Paul was
in prison.
In writing this book about Jesus,
Luke made use of other older documents like the Gospel of Mark, as well as
extensive eyewitness accounts.
Jesus’ ministry is well under way, and the people have been amazed not just
at the things He’s been teaching, but the things He’s been doing.
17:7-10 Duty
:7 And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to
him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’?
:7 which of you having a servant…
servant – doulos – a
slave, bondman
It sounds as if Jesus is addressing
slave owners.
Slavery was a very common thing in Jesus’ day.
Historians tell us that in Jesus day, the ratio between free men and slaves
was anywhere from half of the population being slaves, to one free man to every
three slaves.
As to the Roman
empire, Gibbon estimates the number of slaves under the reign of Claudius at no
less than one half of the entire population, i.e., about sixty millions (I. 52, ed. Milman, N. Y., 1850).
According to Robertson there were twice as many slaves as free citizens, and
Blair (in his work on Roman slavery, Edinb. 1833, p. 15) estimates over three
slaves to one freeman between the conquest of Greece (146 b.c.) and the reign of Alexander
Severna (a.d. 222–235).[1]
Slavery was a way of life in ancient times.
It was how the economy of the ancient world ran.
The treatment of slaves depended on the slave owner.
Some slave owners treated their slaves like family.
Others treated slaves worse than they did cattle - beating and killing
slaves for no reason at all.
One Roman mistress ordered her female slaves whipped in her presence until
the one doing the whipping was worn out.
An owner could condemn a slave to
the death of crucifixion for no reason whatsoever.
Juvenal describes
a Roman mistress who ordered her female slaves to be unmercifully lashed in her
presence till the whippers were worn out; Ovid warns the ladies not to scratch
the face or stick needles into the naked arms of the servants who adorned them;
and before Hadrian a mistress could condemn a slave to the death of crucifixion
without assigning a reason.[2]
Judaism did much to move away from
slavery, requiring that all Hebrew slaves be released after having served six years.
Yet even Jews were allowed to have Gentile slaves.
Over and over again, God reminded
the Jews that they had once been slaves in Egypt.
(Exodus 21:1–11 NKJV) —1 “Now these
are the judgments which you shall set before them: 2 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the
seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing. 3 If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes
in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or
daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out
by himself. 5 But if the servant
plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out
free,’ 6 then his master shall
bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the
doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve
him forever. 7 “And if a man sells
his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. 8 If she does not please her master, who has betrothed her to
himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her
to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her. 9 And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her
according to the custom of daughters. 10 If he
takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and
her marriage rights. 11 And if he
does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying
money.
(Leviticus 25:39–55 NKJV) —39 ‘And if one
of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself
to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave. 40 As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and
shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 And then he shall depart from you—he and his children with
him—and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of
his fathers. 42 For they are My
servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as
slaves. 43 You shall not rule
over him with rigor, but you shall fear your God. 44 And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have—from the
nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. 45 Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell
among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land;
and they shall become your property. 46 And you
may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them
as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your
brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with
rigor. 47 ‘Now if a sojourner or stranger close to
you becomes rich, and one of your brethren who dwells by him
becomes poor, and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner close to
you, or to a member of the stranger’s family, 48 after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers
may redeem him; 49 or his uncle or his
uncle’s son may redeem him; or anyone who is near of kin to him in his
family may redeem him; or if he is able he may redeem himself. 50 Thus he shall reckon with him who bought him: The price of his
release shall be according to the number of years, from the year that he was
sold to him until the Year of Jubilee; it shall be according to the time
of a hired servant for him. 51 If there
are still many years remaining, according to them he shall repay the
price of his redemption from the money with which he was bought. 52 And if there remain but a few years until the Year of Jubilee,
then he shall reckon with him, and according to his years he shall repay
him the price of his redemption. 53 He shall
be with him as a yearly hired servant, and he shall not rule with rigor over
him in your sight. 54 And if he
is not redeemed in these years, then he shall be released in the Year of
Jubilee—he and his children with him. 55 For the
children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom
I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
It’s not until the rise of
Christianity that slavery is gradually abolished from civilized society.
In contrast, under Islam, the
abolishing of slavery has gone much slower.
Saudi Arabia and Yemen didn’t
abolish slavery until 1962, and only after pressure from Great Britain.
Slavery is still allowed in the
Islamic countries of Chad, Mauritania, Niger, Mali, and Sudan.
plowing – arotrioo
– to plough
tending sheep – poimaino
– to feed, to tend a flock, keep sheep
:7 Come at once and sit down to eat
sit down to eat – anapipto
– to lie back, lie down; to recline at a table, to sit back
Jesus is posing a question that all His hearers understand. They all know
the answer to this question.
Does the ordinary slave owner tell his slaves who’ve come in from working
all day to sit down and relax?
Even though the obvious answer is
“No way”, there will actually be a time when a certain Master will actually
come and serve His servants.
(Luke 12:37 NKJV) Blessed are
those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I
say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and
will come and serve them.
God is not like
most masters. God will one day serve
us. Wow.
But back to the normal master…
:8 But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and
gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will
eat and drink’?
Prepare – hetoimazo
– to make ready, prepare
supper – deipneo
– to sup
gird – perizonnumi
– to fasten garments with a girdle or belt
serve – diakoneo
– to be a servant, attendant, domestic, to serve, wait upon
:8 Prepare … gird … serve
The slave coming in from the field is not done with his work for the day.
He still has things to do.
He still must cook supper for his master, dress up to serve, and serve the
master.
:9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded
him? I think not.
Does a slave owner even think about taking time to say “thanks” to his
slaves? Nope.
thank – charis
– grace; good will; thanks, (for benefits, services, favours), recompense,
reward
The Greek is, “Does he have
thanks…”
commanded – diatasso
– to arrange, appoint, ordain, prescribe, give order
think – dokeo
– to be of opinion, think, suppose
:10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are
commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty
to do.’ ”
commanded – diatasso
– to arrange, appoint, ordain, prescribe, give order
We have done – poieo
– to make; to do
Perfect active indicative (we have
done); Aorist active infinitive (to do)
:10 So likewise you
Lesson
His Servants
Whether you know it or not, when you decided to follow Jesus, you became
His servant.
If you have trouble with that concept, you need to rethink your
relationship with Jesus.
We used to be slaves of Satan, held captive by him to do his will (2Tim.
2:26)
Satan is not one of the good masters.
(2 Timothy 2:26 NKJV) —26 and that
they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil,
having been taken captive by him to do his will.
Jesus died to break our chains, set us free, and now we can serve Him (Col.
1:13). Dylan got it right – you gotta
serve somebody
Jesus is the best master.
(Colossians 1:13 NKJV) —13 He has
delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom
of the Son of His love,
Jesus said that the greatest thing we could ever aspire to is to serve.
(Mark 10:44 NKJV) And whoever
of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.
Some may say that we are not
servants, but friends of Christ because Jesus said,
(John 15:15 NKJV) No longer
do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing;
but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I
have made known to you.
And though we are His friends, we
are actually still His servant, because later in the same passage He said,
(John 15:20 NKJV) Remember
the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If
they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they
will keep yours also.
Paul, Timothy, Epaphras,
James, Peter, and Jude were all glad to
call themselves “servants” (doulos)
of Christ.
(Romans 1:1 NKJV) —1 Paul, a
bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the
gospel of God
(Philippians 1:1 NKJV) —1 Paul and
Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the
saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: 0
(Colossians 4:12 NKJV) —12 Epaphras,
who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring
fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all
the will of God.
(Titus 1:1 NKJV) —1 Paul, a
bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of
God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness,
(James 1:1 NKJV) —1 James, a
bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.
(2 Peter 1:1 NKJV) —1 Simon
Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the
righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
(Jude 1 NKJV) —1 Jude, a bondservant of
Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those
who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:
:10 We are unprofitable servants
unprofitable – achreios (“not”
+ “necessity”) – useless, good for nothing
Only used one other place:
(Matthew 25:30 NKJV) And cast
the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.’
This was the
servant that buried his “talent” and didn’t produce a return on the master’s
investment.
I think our “self-esteem” has trouble with this translation.
Other translations make it worse,
translating this as “unworthy”
(Luke 17:10 NLT) In the same way, when
you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our
duty.’ ”
I like the idea of translating this as “not necessary”.
We have value and worth to Jesus, but in the bigger scheme of things, none
of us are indisposable. God can and will
use other people if we refuse to do what God wants us to do.
Mordecai told Esther:
(Esther 4:14 NKJV) —14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and
deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your
father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom
for such a time as this?”
:10 We have done what was our duty to do
our duty – opheilo – to
owe; that which is due, the debt
We have simply done what we ought to have done, what we owed God.
(Luke 17:10 WUESTNT) …We are
slaves who, because we have done nothing more than that which was commanded us,
are not deserving of any meritorious mention. We have done that which we ought
to have done.
Illustration
On October 21, 1805, Admiral Horatio Nelson and his British fleet were the
only thing keeping Napoleon and the French from invading England.
They were outnumbered with the enemy having 33 ships to their 27.
As Nelson prepared his fleet for the battle at Trafalgar, he sent a signal
from his flagship “Victory”: “England expects that every man will do his duty.”
It took five hours of fighting in this great naval battle. The enemy lost 19 ships. While Britain didn’t lose any ships, 1,500
British sailors were either killed or wounded.
Nelson himself was shot twice by a French sniper. He would die 30 minutes before the end of the
battle, but before he died, he was told that victory was imminent and he
replied, “Now I am satisfied. Thank God I have done my duty.”
Battle of Trafalgar
In one of the most decisive naval
battles in history, a British fleet under Admiral Lord Nelson defeats a
combined French and Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar, fought off the
coast of Spain.
At sea, Lord Nelson and the Royal
Navy consistently thwarted Napoleon Bonaparte, who led France to preeminence on
the European mainland. Nelson’s last and greatest victory against the French
was the Battle of Trafalgar, which began after Nelson caught sight of a
Franco-Spanish force of 33 ships. Preparing to engage the enemy force on
October 21, Nelson divided his 27 ships into two divisions and signaled a
famous message from the flagship Victory: “England expects that every man will
do his duty.”
In five hours of fighting, the
British devastated the enemy fleet, destroying 19 enemy ships. No British ships
were lost, but 1,500 British seamen were killed or wounded in the heavy fighting.
The battle raged at its fiercest around the Victory, and a French sniper shot
Nelson in the shoulder and chest. The admiral was taken below and died about 30
minutes before the end of the battle. Nelson’s last words, after being informed
that victory was imminent, were “Now I am satisfied. Thank God I have done my
duty.”
Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar
ensured that Napoleon would never invade Britain. Nelson, hailed as the savior
of his nation, was given a magnificent funeral in St. Paul’s Cathedral in
London. A column was erected to his memory in the newly named Trafalgar Square,
and numerous streets were renamed in his honor.
:9 Does he thank that servant?
Lesson
The Appreciation Trap
Let’s be honest…
We all like to feel appreciated.
The problem comes when we like “appreciation” too much. Let’s listen to another “Admiral”
Yes, Admiral Ackbar, it’s a trap.
Illustration
Mom Goes To Bed
Mom and Dad were watching TV when Mom said, “I’m tired, and it’s getting
late. I think I’ll go to bed.” She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for
the next day’s lunches, rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the
freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled
the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table and started the coffee
pot for brewing the next morning. She then put some wet clothes into the dryer,
put a load of clothes into the wash, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button.
She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk
and wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and
pulled a textbook out from hiding under the chair. Mom then creamed her face,
put on moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and trimmed her nails.
Hubby called, “I thought you were going to bed.” “I’m on my way,” she said.
She put some water into the dog’s dish and put the cat outside, then made
sure the doors were locked. She looked in on each of the kids and turned out a
bedside lamp, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks in the hamper, and had a
brief conversation with the one up still doing homework.
About that time, the hubby turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular
“I’m going to bed,” and he did.
Listen carefully to me, because I don’t want you to misunderstand what I’m
about to say.
I am NOT saying that those of you who work hard like that “mom” in the
story should never expect your husband or kids to say “thanks” every once in a
while. No, we ought to show appreciation
to each other.
I’m saying that you and I can fall into a dangerous trap when we start
doing things only for the “appreciation”, “thanks”, or “admiration” of others.
If you do expect these things, you are going to find a world of
disappointment ahead of you, and you will find yourself NOT doing the things
that your true Master wants you to be doing.
You won’t do what you’re supposed to do because you will tell yourself that
no one appreciates you.
So what do you do if you’ve fallen into the “appreciation trap”?
You need to step back and ask yourself who your true Master is.
If Jesus is your Master, then you need to spend some time going over your
list of things to do.
You need to ask Him what things He feels you “must” do.
Perhaps you are doing too much. Perhaps you are filling your schedule with so
many things that you are wearing yourself out.
It could be that you are doing all that you are supposed
to be doing, but you’ve been doing them for the wrong reasons.
Get back to serving Jesus instead of serving your ego.
It’s your “ego” that demands appreciation, not your
servant’s heart.
Does this mean that God doesn’t appreciate what we do for Him? Does this
mean that there are no rewards for doing what God wants?
Not at all. Jesus rewards His
servants, but some of those rewards don’t come until we see Him.
(Matthew
25:21 NKJV) His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant;
you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.
Enter into the joy of your lord.’
17:11-19 Thanks
:11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the
midst of Samaria and Galilee.
He passed through – dierchomai
– to go through, pass through
the midst – mesos
– middle; the midst; in the midst of, amongst
:11 He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee
Galilee was the region in the north of Israel.
Samaria was in the center of Israel.
Judea was in the south, where Jerusalem was.
The Samaritan people were considered “half-breeds” to the Jews. They had intermarried with the pagan peoples
and had created a perverted form of Judaism.
The Jews hated the Samaritans.
When a good Jew was traveling from Galilee to Samaria, they would usually
avoid Samaria and either travel along in the coastal plain of Israel, or along
the Jordan River valley.
Yet several times in His ministry, Jesus made a point of travelling straight
through Samaria.
:12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were
lepers, who stood afar off.
He entered – eiserchomai
– to go out or come in: to enter
village – kome
– the common sleeping place to which laborers in the field return, a
village
met – apantao
– to go to meet, to meet; in a military sense: a hostile meeting
lepers – lepros
– scaly, rough; leprous, affected with leprosy
afar off – porrhothen–
from afar, afar off
:12 there met Him ten men who were lepers
In the original Greek, Luke uses a military term that makes it sound as if
the lepers are a small army coming out to challenge Jesus.
In Jesus’ day, the diagnosis of leprosy meant being shunned from
society. Lepers were quarantined from
mingling with the general population.
It was considered an incurable disease, something like AIDS is today.
They are standing off a distance because they know they are not allowed to
get too close to anyone without leprosy.
:13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have
mercy on us!”
Master – epistates
– any sort of superintendent or overseer
:14 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.
show – epideiknumi
– to exhibit, show; to prove, demonstrate
they went – hupago
– to lead under, bring under; to withdraw one’s self, to go away, depart
they were cleansed – katharizo
– to make clean, cleanse
:14 show yourselves to the priests
The disease of leprosy is seen throughout the Old Testament.
The diagnosis of leprosy was something that fell to the responsibility of
the priests. The book of Leviticus goes
into great detail to instruct the priests about how to decide whether a person
had leprosy or not.
Moses’ sister Miriam had leprosy
for a time. A Syrian general named
Naaman had leprosy. King Uzziah had
leprosy.
While leprosy was considered incurable by any human means, it was not
impossible for God to cure leprosy, and Moses was given a very unique set of
instructions in case a person was actually cured from leprosy. The entire chapter of Leviticus 14 is
dedicated to this ritual:
(Leviticus 14:2
NKJV) “This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing:
He shall be brought to the priest…
After a priest determined that a person had actually been healed, an
elaborate ritual was performed using birds, water, cedar wood, scarlet, and
hyssop.
Basically, the ritual was a picture of resurrection, a picture that this
person who had been considered “dead” had come back to life.
It’s a beautiful picture of what Jesus does for us.
:14 as they went, they were cleansed
Literally, “in their going, they were cleansed”
Their healing came as they turned themselves around and did what Jesus said
to do.
Lesson
Cleansing Journey
I think there’s a great lesson here for all of us.
Jesus has things He wants us to do, things He wants us to pay attention to.
When the healed lepers presented themselves to the priests, they would be a
testimony of what Jesus had done.
The things that Jesus wants us to do will become a “testimony” to those we
present ourselves to.
It’s in turning around and learning to do those things that we find
ourselves cleansed.
In the movie “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, Indiana and his father
go on a journey to find the “holy grail”.
The last thing keeping Indiana from the grail is a test called “the path
of God”.
You and I are on a journey as well, and while you might be
afraid to take a “leap of faith”, it’s simply about obedience, doing what God
has told you to do. Taking a step.
This is something that many in our church have found when it comes to their
addictions.
It’s taking that journey, taking those “steps”, that brings cleansing.
Yes, some people can be “healed” from their addiction with a simple word
from Jesus.
There were lepers healed by a simple touch from Jesus.
Yet these men were healed “as they went”.
If you are struggling with addictions, you need to
consider getting involved with others who are learning to walk the path, to do
the “steps”. That’s what the James Gang
is all about.
Every once in a while you will find people claiming that they “tried” Christianity,
and it didn’t work for them.
I’d like to suggest that they didn’t try it at all. They might have done some of the things that they
were told, but I doubt that they tried doing what Jesus told them to do.
Did they study the Scriptures?
(2 Timothy 2:15 NKJV) —15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who
does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Did they develop a prayer life?
(1 Thessalonians 5:17 NKJV) —17 pray without ceasing,
Did they get involved in church?
(Hebrews 10:25 NKJV) —25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is
the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as
you see the Day approaching.
Obedience – Did they turn from their sin?
(James 2:17 NKJV) Thus
also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
G.K. Chesterton wrote:
Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has
been found difficult and not tried.
Here’s one more bonus about “as
they went…”
When you are on God’s path, when
you are doing things God’s way, you are going to find that God will lead you
step by step.
Want to know what God has for your
life, be sure to get on God’s path.
Abraham had sent his servant to
travel a great distance to find a bride for his son. The servant had prayed that God would lead
him to the right gal, and that’s what God actually did, leading him to Rebekah.
As to how it
actually happened, the servant described it like this:
(Genesis 24:27 NKJV) …As
for me, being on the way, the Lord
led me …
Get on God’s
path. His cleansing path.
:15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a
loud voice glorified God,
healed – iaomai
– to cure, heal
returned – hupostrepho
– to turn back; to return
glorified – doxazo
– to praise, extol, magnify, celebrate
:16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he
was a Samaritan.
giving … thanks – eucharisteo
– to be grateful, feel thankful; give thanks
:17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are
the nine?
cleansed – katharizo
– to make clean, cleanse
:18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this
foreigner?”
found – heurisko
– to come upon; to find by enquiry, thought, examination, scrutiny,
returned – hupostrepho
– to turn back; to return
glory – doxa
– in the NT always a good opinion concerning one, resulting in praise,
honour, and glory
to give – didomi
– to give
foreigner – allogenes
(“other” + “tribe”) – sprung from
another tribe, a foreigner, alien
The way Jesus talks, it seems that the other nine lepers may have been
Jews. It was only one of those dirty
Samaritans that stopped to say thanks.
:19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
:19 Your faith has made you well
made you well – sozo – to
save, to rescue from danger or destruction
We could easily translate this, “Your
faith has saved you”
While the others were just cleansed, this man was “saved”.
Salvation is about curing the ultimate disease and saving us from hell
itself.
The Bible tells us that all of us have sinned, and that our sin separates
us from God.
Jesus Christ came to this planet, lived a perfect life, and was crucified
in order to be a perfect sacrifice and pay for our sins.
He paid a debt He didn’t owe because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.
God wants to save you from hell and save you from your sins, but there is
one thing you must do, and that’s trust in Jesus.
You must turn your life over to Jesus and trust that He has paid for your
sins.
We too are saved by our faith.
:16 fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks
Lesson
Cultivate Thankfulness
(Psalm 107:8–9 NKJV)
—8 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for
His wonderful works to the children of men! 9 For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills
the hungry soul with goodness.
Illustration
Ice Cream Prayer
One mom writes,
Last week I took my children to a restaurant. My six-year-old son asked if
he could say grace. As we bowed our heads he said, “God is good. God is great.
Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if mom gets us ice
cream for dessert. And Liberty and justice for all! Amen!” Along with the
laughter from the other customers nearby I heard a woman remark, “That’s what’s
wrong with this country. Kids today don’t even know how to pray. Asking God for
ice cream! Why, I never!”. Hearing this, my son burst into tears and asked me,
“Did I do it wrong? Is God mad at me?” As I held him and assured him that he
had done a terrific job and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly
gentleman approached the table. He winked at my son and said, “I happen to know
that God thought that was a great prayer.” “Really?” my son asked. “Cross my
heart.” Then in a theatrical whisper he added (indicating the woman whose
remark had started this whole thing), “Too bad she never asks God for ice
cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes.” Naturally, I bought
my kids ice cream at the end of the meal. My son stared at his for a moment and
then did something I will remember the rest of my life. He picked up his sundae
and without a word walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big
smile he told her, “Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul
sometimes, and my soul is good already.”
We may not always do it correctly.
We may not be real eloquent in our prayers. But I’d rather have the heart of a thankful
child than the heart of the person who needs a scoop of ice cream.
It’s not always easy saying “thanks”.
It’s something that we have to work at, something we need to cultivate
in our lives.
Say thanks to those who encourage you.
Say thanks to the God who has saved you.