Andrew & Patrique Smellie welcome Carlos & Lucy Mejia to Washington DC!

“When Jesus saw [the ten who had leprosy], He said, ‘Go show yourself to the priest.’ And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them when he saw that he was healed, came back praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him – and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, ‘Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to give praise to God except this foreigner?’” Luke 17:14-18

God expects the attitude of gratitude. When the ten lepers called out to Jesus for help and mercy, Jesus commanded them, “Go show yourself to the priest.” The Spirit records that “as they went” all ten “were cleansed!” Interestingly, only the Samaritan came back to Jesus to thank Him. All ten of the lepers had the faith to obey Jesus – and thus were “cleansed” – but only one had gratitude. Most would say that to be “cleansed” is to be saved. Therefore, if we apply this to our day, many saved disciples – perhaps nine out of ten – may not be grateful for the radical changes that God has brought about in our lives, not to mention our very salvation!

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Riley Howle (second from right) is pictured with the brothers who studied the Bible with

  “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” – Hebrews 9:27-28
 
On the day I proposed to my wife, I called my father-in-law-to-be to inform him that I would be asking his daughter to marry me. He replied, “Are you sure that’s what you want? Because you only get one shot at this life. Make it count.”
              You only get one shot at this life. Make it count. These words are quite simple, yet very true. The writer in Hebrews states, “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” We only get one life to live, and after we die, we will be accountable for what we have done with that life. How will you live your life?

 
              Paul, in his letter to the church in Ephesus, warns the brothers and sisters, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15) We need to be careful how we live because the days are evil, because there is so much sin and so many temptations bombarding us every day! If we are not careful, we will give in to temptation and fall into sin! We must be very careful how we live the one life that we are given!

 
              How are we to live? We need to be trusting in and following the Lord! The prophet Isaiah says, “Cursed is the one who trusts in man…. He will be like a bush in the wasteland.”  We must not put our trust in people, in our abilities, or in ourselves, but instead, we must trust in God! “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Isaiah 17:5,7-8) In this passage, we see that the difference between a bush in the wasteland and a green tree by a stream, bearing fruit year after year, is what we put our trust in. Trusting in God and his plan ensures that we will always have green leaves, and bear fruit regularly!

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