Seekers for Jesus: July- September 2021

By R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation

Seekers for Jesus is a quarterly written especially for young people ages 12-14. In addition to introductory material and biblical exposition, each lesson contains a section to help students apply the lesson to life. Questions are interjected to gauge the student’s understanding of the presentation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
• Release date: Jun 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781681678351

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Lesson

1

07/04/21

An Attitude of Gratitude

Today’s Scripture

Leviticus 13:45–46; Luke 17:11–19

Background Scripture: Leviticus 13–14; Luke 5:12–16; 17:11–19

CHECK OUT TODAY’S LESSON

NRSV

THE person who has the leprous disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be disheveled; and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, Unclean, unclean.

46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.

11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee.

12 As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance,

13 they called out, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!

14 When he saw them, he said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were made clean.

15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.

16 He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan.

17 Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they?

18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"

19 Then he said to him, Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.

Today’s Word

We all face difficult times at some point in our lives. Some of us may be bullied because we think, dress, or act differently. Some of us may be treated differently because we have a physical or mental disability or have different colored skin. But the people in today’s lesson lived a very lonely and separated life because they suffered from a deadly and highly contagious disease. Among those people was a foreigner whose people were hated by the Jews. Yet, he showed the most faith and appreciation for what God had done for Him. This ultimate outcast of society was given a great gift as his faith was recognized by God. Even when we feel the most outcast, we should always remember to have an attitude of gratitude when God works for us. God’s recognition of our faith is the most important recognition we can receive. To receive the same recognition this outcast received, we are called to be grateful when someone reaches out to help us, remembering that any kindness that has been extended to us is a gift given from God through others.

God’s recognition of our faith is the most important recognition we can receive.

While in most of today’s world leprosy is a curable disease, at the time today’s lesson took place, there was no known cure for it. While Jesus walked on the earth, anyone who was suffering from this disease had strict rules to follow. Leviticus 13:45–46 states that people who suffered from leprosy must tear their clothing and let their hair grow and be unbound. This was so people could tell from a distance there was something wrong with them and they should keep their distance. The sick people also were to cover the lower portion of their face. This kept people from being forced to see the damage the disease was causing to that person’s skin. When those people were near other people, they were to call out, Unclean! Unclean! They were considered unclean for as long as they suffered from the disease. For many, this disease was a lonely death sentence. These people were ordered to live alone outside of the towns where others lived. They were not allowed to live near anyone who was not infected by this disease. This was done so anyone who was not infected could avoid being contaminated.

Jesus and His followers were traveling to Jerusalem. As they were entering a small village located between the cities of Samaria and Galilee, He was met by ten people with leprosy. While they came near Jesus, they kept their distance from Him and the others. While they were still standing within sight of Jesus, they called out for Him to take pity on them.

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While Jesus maintained His distance from the men, He recognized their affliction. He had mercy on them and healed them. Then Jesus called out for the people to go and show themselves to the priests so they could be declared clean and reenter society. As they began to leave to do as Jesus had instructed them, they began to recognize they had been healed.

While all the people went to be seen by the priests, only one of them turned back to Jesus. Recognizing he had been healed, he began praising God in a loud voice. The man went back to Jesus and threw himself down at Jesus’ feet. He thanked Jesus, a Jew, for healing him. This man was a Samaritan. During this time, Samaritans were considered foreigners and were widely hated by the Jewish people. But this Samaritan praised God and gave Him all of the glory for healing him from a disease that made him a feared outcast.

Jesus looked at the man who was kneeling at His feet and asked him a question, Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? Jesus asked this question only to the Samaritan man because he was the only one left. This man’s actions were recognized as faith by Jesus. Jesus spoke to the man again and told him to stand up and go about his business because his faith had healed him and had made him clean. The man’s attitude of gratitude was a display of his faith. He understood his healing had a greater purpose than just his own health. The opportunity to give glory to God was not lost by this man.

God works in our lives every day. Whether we recognize His works each day or not, we should remember that everything we have—our home, friends, family, food, even the air we breath—has all been given to us by God. Because of this, we have been given two opportunities. The first opportunity is to show our faith and actively recognize, as the lepers did, that God has the power to work in our lives as He sees fit. We can go to God and ask Him for the things we need, confident that He has the power to give it to us. We also ask in the spirit of understanding that if God does not give it to us, it was because it wasn’t in His will. The second opportunity we have is to give glory and praise to God, as the Samaritan did. The other nine healed people missed an opportunity to have their faith recognized by God. But the one man who stood back to offer