From Adam's first breath, God has been watching. Every choice, every thought, every motive for every act--can you imagine what He's seen? Sure, there have been moments of goodness, righteousness, and love; many were recorded in Scripture and rewarded by God. But the bad far outweighs the good. Look at today's headlines and multiply the negative by a gazillion, and you'll begin to grasp just how wretched and sinful the human race is.

Jesus was doing amazing things in Jerusalem, and the people were in awe. They followed Him around and listened while He preached, no doubt motivated by the things they were seeing. In other words, as long as the people were experiencing miracles, they were willing to stay. But being in attendance, being in awe, being emotionally impacted, and even believing in the supernatural don't always result in a relationship with Jesus.

Case in point:

On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well." (Luke 17:11-19)

The lepers called Him Master and begged for Mercy. And Jesus obliged. He sent them to the priests because according to the Law, lepers had to be deemed clean in order to reenter society. They obeyed and went, and along the way were miraculously healed, which means by the time they arrived at the synagogue, the priests did indeed pronounce them clean. After that, I'm guessing most of them ran home to their families and friends, then resumed their lives.

Only one of the ten ran back to thank Jesus. Why?

Jesus posed the same question, but it was rhetorical because He knew what was in that man. He'd been watching since the beginning.

Far too often, people want the perks of a relationship with Jesus without the actual relationship. They take credit when things go well and offer up Hail Mary prayers when things go badly. They attend church, but only on holidays. They want assurance of heaven while maintaining devotion to the word. They have a faith-someday mentality--I'll go to Jesus when I'm older; when I'm done living life on my terms. But unfortunately, human terms are sin soaked.

Jesus is looking for people who are willing to run to Him, to fall on their faces, to repent, surrender, and worship because of who He is, and to learn and grow in a faith that remains even when the miracles cease. Jesus knew what was in people's hearts--it's the reason He came. And so, true believers aren't just in it for the miracles; they have been fundamentally and irrevocably changed by Jesus Himself, making relationship with Him the ultimate prize.

PRAYER FOCUS

Thank God for the relationship He offers and ask Him to not leave you alone so you can be closer to Him as often as possible.

MOVING FORWARD

• Can you think of a time your relationship with Jesus lagged? Is it now?
• What miraculous changes has Jesus made in your heart since you started following Him?
• Moving forward, how can you embrace heart changes over physical ones?