“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 KJV).
In this account, these ten men had a terrible disease called leprosy. Well, they went to Jesus and lifted up their voice, crying, “Master, have mercy on us.” Now I want you to notice what Jesus told them to do in verse 14. He told them to go show themselves to the priest.
Now in biblical times, you were only allowed to show yourself to the priest when you were clean, because an unclean person can be stoned to death if he is found near the temple. Yet Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priest. What is He saying? Go, act like you are healed.
Wait a minute; we’re talking about their lives being on the line here. But I want you to understand that what you do in the hard times in your life will determine what you really believe.
You see, anybody can believe all kinds of stuff sitting in the church or when all is right in their lives, but when you get outside the church, that is when you find out what you really got.
The Scripture continues, “And it came to pass as they went….” Now notice that “as they went” something happened – they were healed. You see, there had to be some action behind their faith.
So even though healing power was obviously available, and even though there was enough power to blow away that leprosy and clean their skin, it wasn’t until they acted on what Jesus told them that produced any results.
Now we know these men believed Jesus could heal them; that’s why they came to Him and asked for healing in the first place. And we know they did not doubt His ability to heal them. The key thing to remember here is that it was not until they did what Jesus told them to do that they were healed.
Now think about that for a moment, because if I were to ask you if you believed that Jesus has provided healing for you, most of you would say yes. But the determining factor would not be what you believe; the determining factor would be the action you are willing to take on what you believe.
Are you willing to put action behind your faith? If so, your faith will be made perfect when action is applied to the Word of God.
Scripture Reference: James 1:22-25
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Keith Butler has been an ordained minister since 1974. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds diplomas from Canada Christian College and Rhema Bible Training Center.
He serves in ministry with the support of his lovely wife, Pastor Deborah L. Butler, and their children: Pastor Andre Butler (granddaughters Alexis, Angela, and April), Pastor MiChelle Ferguson and husband Pastor Lee (grandson Lucas), and Minister Kristina Jenkins and husband Pastor Joel (grandsons Andrew and Austin, and granddaughter Alyssa).