THE KING’S BUSINESS
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“I am content with what I have, Little be it or much; And, Lord, contentment still I crave, Because Thou savest such. Fulness a burden is to such As go on pilgrimage, Here little, and hereafter much, Is best from age to age.” Sunday, November 23. Thankfulness.—Phil. 4 :6. 1. Thankfulness. What do you think of such as do not say, “Thank you?” A gentlemen on a crowded car gave a wo man his, seat. She took it without a word. “Madame,” said the man, “did I leave some thing in my seat?” She rose to look and he sat down, saying, “If it is. not worth a ‘thank you’ I’ll keep it myself.” Served her right? Paul counts thanklessness among the great sins (Rom. 1:21). See what Jesus thought of nine men out of ten (Luke 17:11-19). 2. Lip Thanks vs. Heart Thanks. You have heard some say, “Thank you, oh, thank you ever, ever so much,” when it was plain that they hardly thought of what they were saying. The Lord says that men do so toward Him (Mark 7:6). 3. Whom to Thank. All the good .we receive, whether from nature or men, is, after all, from God. To Him our thanks are due “always, for all things” (Eph. 5: 20). Now if we are “ever, ever" so thank ful for trifles hardly worth mention, should we not add the emphasis of the heart in our thanks to Him who is behind all? Have you heard the song about the boy who “touched his cap’’ to the fountain, which said, “Don’t thank me,” and referred him to the hillside spring? The spring sent him to the rain and the dew; these to the ocean, the ocean to the sun; but the sun “echoed back, ‘Not unto me.’” And so the boy took off his cap and thanked God. 4. The Thankful Heart and the Magnet. “If one were to give me a dish of sand, and tell me there were particles of iron in it, I might feel for them with the finger in vain. But let me take a magnet and sweep through it! The unthankful heart, like my
finger in the sand, discovers no mercies. But let the thankful heart sweep through the day, and as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find in every hour some heavenly blessings--—only the iron in God’s sand is gold.”— Holmes. S. Thankful Ones. David (Ps. 30:12); Daniel (2:23); the Lord Jesus (John 6: 11) ; Paul (1 Cor. 1:4); the holy ones in glory (Rev. 7:11, 12). What have we to be thankful for in our hearts, our homes, and our native land? Sunday, November 30. What Gifts Have We That We Should Stir Up ?—2 Tim. 1:6. 1. Gifts. All the powers of our being are callecj "gifts',” because bestowed by our Creator. Some persons have extraordinary powers, and we call them “gifted.” So we speak of a “gifted” singer, or artist, or preacher. But the Bible speaks of “spirit ual” gifts. If you read the 12th and 13th chapters of 1 Corinthians you may learn what they are. But when we become Chris tians all our powers are spiritualized and sanctified to God for His service. 2. Spiritual Gifts are given for Jesus’ sake. We read (Eph., 4:8-10) that He gave them when He ascended. We see this on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit fell on the Church and stirred them up to do great things (Acts 2:1-47); for it is through the Holy Spirit Jesus bestows them. Some spiritual gift is given to every believer (1 Cor. 12:7; Rom. 12:4-6). The ■ best of all the gifts, Paul says, is love (1 Cor. 12:31; 13:1-13). But we have more than one gift to each. We all can give, and teach, exhort; we all have faith, ana hope, and love. These and all other gifts we should “stir up.” 3. Why Should We Stir Them tJp? Be cause they are given “to profit with all” (1 Cor. 12:7). Because we shall have to account for our use of them. These gifts are the talents we read of in the parable (Matt. 25:14-30), where we see how those who kept their talents stirring were reward ed and he that hid his in the earth punished.
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