“To obey is better than sacrifice” (I. Sam. xv. 22).
Our healing is thus represented as a special recompense for obedience. If,
therefore, we would please the Lord and have the reward of those who
please Him, there is no service so acceptable to Him as our praise.
Let us ever meet Him with a glad and thankful heart and He will reflect it
back in the health of our countenance and the buoyant life and springing
health, which is but the echo of a joyful heart.
Further, thankfulness is the best preparation for faith. Trust grows
spontaneously in the praiseful heart. Thankfulness takes the sunny side of
the street and looks at the bright side of God, and it is only thus that
we can ever trust Him. Unbelief looks at our troubles and, of course, they
seem like mountains, and faith is discouraged by the prospect. A thankful
disposition will always find some cause for cheer, and gloomy one will
find a cloud in the brightest sky and a fly in the sweetest ointment. Let
us cultivate a spirit of cheerfulness, and we shall find so much in God
and in our lives to encourage us that we shall have no room for doubt or
fear.