I’ve Fallen and I Wont Get Up
I’ve Fallen, And I Won’t Get Up
“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.”
Luke 17:15-16
When is the last time you fell on your face and thanked and glorified God for all He has done for you in your life?
In this story, ten lepers were healed and one of them is known to be a Samaritan, which is specifically pointed out.
Throughout the Bible, lepers are identified as a class of indignant people with a disease. Leprosy was already considered to be a disease that socially separated people and was considered ugly, dirty and socially unacceptable. If you had leprosy, you were an outcast. Samaritans were considered to be a lowly and unworthy class of people. Combine a Samaritan with leprosy and you have the worst of the worst.
This one Samaritan with leprosy was healed with the other nine - however, only he returned to Jesus and fell on his face to give thanks and to glorify God.
So, I’ll ask again, when is the last time we fell on our face in front of God to thank Him and glorify Him? I don’t mean conveniently and comfortably praying for our food and before bedtime. Or our generalized daily worship and “scheduled” time that we remind everyone of.
I’m guilty of somewhat repetitive and repeated praying. I pray, and give thanks, for things I already receive as a Christian. I pray for the uncertain things. I pray for the blessings. I pray for wisdom and to stay in God’s will. I pray for health for myself and family members. It contains what is expected of us as Christian’s; necessities, requests and concessions. And by no means are these things undesirable.
But when do we truly crumble at the feet of Jesus to glorify Him for all that has been done in our lives?
This Samaritan didn’t return to give a handshake or an obligatory thank-you. It wasn’t a mild-mannered, soft-spoken and gratuity-filled pat on the back.
He returned and placed his face at the feet of Jesus by falling into position.
He didn’t walk back, mildly lowering his head, taking his time to kneel to the ground.
This was a humility-laden, awe-inspiring, glorification of God.
This Samaritan was no longer a leper, no longer an outcast because of his disease or citizenship. Half of what condemned him in society was healed by Jesus, and the other half was removed by his faith on Jesus.
We take things for granted. We give up easily. We fall short. We hurry things. And we always tell ourselves we will do better the next time. We dismiss our bad decisions as accidents and mistakes. And we easily blame others for what we should be pointing to ourselves for.
But we never fall on our faces.
It’s a sign of weakness to get on our knees and to lower our faces to the feet of someone else. It’s a sign of submission and cowardice. It’s considered “beneath us”.
After all, doesn’t God know our hearts?
This Samaritan was “made well” because of his faith. His faith made Him a child of God. This means he would spend eternity in heaven and he knew it. Jesus had the power to heal him, but his faith on Jesus is what made him well.
We constantly fall in this life. We make bad choices, we sin and we still think we are better than someone else. We aren’t. We don’t deserve anything in this world. And yet, we refuse to fall on our faces at the feet of Jesus and thank Him for all that we are and all that we have. We fail to truly bring glory to our King.
God is glorious. And even when things in this world are going so wrong or seem so unfair, we still have God. We don’t fall on our faces enough for what God has done for us and for what He is doing in us.
Glory to God isn’t repetitive prayer and good behavior. It is an outward expression for all that has been done in our lives because He was willing to save us, and we didn’t deserve it. It’s an all-out, all-in and at all expense glorification of the One that has made us whole. God deserves our glory every single day. We should be willing to run to the feet of Jesus and fall on our faces for the grace that is extended to us daily.
Are you willing to fall on your face for Him?
“So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.””
Luke 17:17-19