"I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth."--Matt. xi. 25.
A thankful spirit pervaded the entire life of Jesus, and surrounded with
a heavenly halo His otherwise darkened path. In moments we least expect
to find it, this beauteous ray breaks through the gloom. In instituting
the memorial of His _death_, He "_gave thanks_!" Even in crossing the
Kedron to Gethsemane, "He sang an hymn!"
We know in seasons of deep sorrow and trial that every thing wears a
gloomy aspect. Dumb Nature herself to the burdened spirit seems as if
she partook in the hues of sadness. The life of Jesus was one
continuous experience of privation and woe--a "Valley of Baca," from
first to last; yet, amid accents of plaintive sorrow, there are ever
heard subdued undertones of _thankfulness_ and joy!
Ah, if He, the suffering "Man of sorrows," could, during a life of
unparalleled woe, lift up His heart in grateful acknowledgment to His
Father in heaven, how ought the lives of those to be one perpetual "hymn
of thankfulness," who are from day to day and hour to hour (for all they
have, both temporally and spiritually) pensioners on God's bounty and
love!
Reader! cultivate this thankful spirit; it will be to thee a perpetual
feast. There is, or ought to be, with us no such thing as _small_
mercies; all are _great_, because the least are undeserved. Indeed, a
really thankful heart will extract motive for gratitude from every
thing, making the most even of scanty blessings. St. Paul, when in his
dungeon at Rome, a prisoner in chains, is heard to say, "I have _all_,
and abound!"
Guard, on the other hand, against that spirit of continual fretting and
moping over fancied ills; that temptation to exaggerate the real or
supposed disadvantages of our condition, magnifying the trifling
inconveniences of every-day life into enormous evils. Think, rather, how
much we have to be thankful for. The world in which we live, in spite of
all the scars of sin and suffering upon it, is a happy world. It is not,
as many would morbidly paint it, flooded with tears and strewn with
wrecks, plaintive with a perpetual dirge of sorrow. True, the
"Everlasting Hills" are in glory, but there are numberless eminences of
grace, and love, and mercy below; many green spots in the lower valley,
_many more than we deserve_!
God will reward a thankful spirit. Just as on earth, when a man receives
with gratitude what is given, we are more disposed to give again, so
also, "the _Lord_ loveth" a cheerful "receiver," as well as a cheerful
"giver."
Let ours, moreover, be a _Gospel_ thankfulness. Let the incense of a
grateful spirit rise not only to the Great Giver of all good, but to our
Covenant God in Christ. Let it be the spirit of the child exulting in
the bounty and beneficence of his _Father's_ house and home! "Giving
_thanks_ always for all things unto God and _the Father_, in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ!"
While the sweet melody of gratitude vibrates through every successive
moment of our daily being, let love to our adorable Redeemer show for
_whom_ and for _what_ it is we reserve our notes of loftiest and most
fervent praise. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!
"ARM YOURSELVES LIKEWISE WITH THE SAME MIND."
Seventh Day.