To Give Thanks Is Best

When Saul attempted to justify his keeping of some of the animals of the Amalekites by saying that he saved them in order to offer up sacrifices to God, Samuel said, “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22). When ten lepers were told by Jesus to go and show themselves to the priests that they might be cleansed, nine of them remembered the story of Saul that it is better to obey than to sacrifice. I’m sure when these nine found that they were cleansed, their hearts were bursting with gratitude. I’m sure they itched to run back to the Savior and to shout glory to God and pour their hearts out in thanks. But they had been taught that it is better to obey. But one of the lepers was a Samaritan. Perhaps he had not been taught as well as the others about the importance of obedience. Or perhaps he understood that to obey is better but to give thanks is best. “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” (Luke 17:15-16). It is to this man only that the Savior said, “Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” (Luke 17:19). We may be tempted to conclude that this man only was made whole because he was thankful, and the others were perhaps not made whole, because they did not similarly show forth their thanks. In some ways this is true. When Christ heals us, He doesn’t bring us full circle. He might heal us 99.99% of the way, but that extra 0.01% is on us. It is when we choose to show our gratitude and humility by praising God and falling down at His feet and wiping His feet with our tears that we close the loop and are made completely whole. But there is another lesson in the leper who turned back. When Jesus told the ten lepers to show themselves to the priests, nine of them assumed that Jesus referred to priests in the synagogues or at Jerusalem. But one of the ten had the faith to see that he was already in the presence of the greatest priest to ever walk the Earth. “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.” The Samaritan leper who was cleansed was not choosing gratitude over obedience. His gratitude led him to a much higher form of obedience than the other nine who decided that it was better to obey than to turn back and thank their Savior. Saul placed limits on God when he chose to disobey the commandment in order to leave enough animals to offer a sacrifice. We can’t know for certain, but it is possible that when Abraham was preparing to sacrifice his son Isaac, he may have even spotted the ram caught in the thicket. He may have been tempted to try and sacrifice the ram instead of his son, just like Saul thought it was better to sacrifice than to obey. But Abraham trusted that the Lord would provide a way and the Lord did provide a way. God will not put us in an impossible position. It may seem that we have to give up our righteous impulse to run back and give thanks because we have to obey the Savior’s command to show ourselves to the priest. But if we have the faith, we can have our eyes opened so that we can see the whole picture and realize that to turn back and give thanks is to present ourselves to the very highest priest of all. I know that it is better to obey, but I also know that to give thanks is best of all.