Gratitude to God The Spirit o f Unthankfulness, One of the Characteristics o f the Last Days o f the Age By PERCY G. HEWARD EnglaricT
NGRATITUDE is one of the characteristics of these last days, as 2 Timothy 3 plainly sets forth. Not only will
given. Then beyond all these many mercies, we are, if in Christ Jesus, “ blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1 :3). What gratitude this should call forth, and what lives of loving devotion ours should be! There will be more thank fulness if we realize how much we have been forgiven. If those who are con scious they are forgiven much love much (Luke 7:47), surely they will be overflowing with gratitude to God. We do need, in these perilous times, over flowing lives to God’s glory. Oh that our hearts may be awakened from in difference, that w.e may say with all our heart, “ Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift;” the. Gift of His be loved Son Who bare our sins in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24), that we might live unto Him, Who died and rose again, and Whose Coming draweth nigh. There is so much to make us praiseful. Ybt how often we fail, "and even murmur when trials (which are for our good) are permitted. Let us remember the words of loving exhorta tion, “ In every thing give thanks” (1 Thess. 5:18). I know we feel that as saved |ones we fall very short of this. But God can enable, and He will if we have faith, and seek in all to praise Him, If we are to be thankful, we need to be ever mindful that we are what we are by God’s grace. He, in wondrous love, chose us in His beloved Son before the foundation of the world. This is cause for deep heart gratitude, because there was nothing in us lovable.
God’s creatures be “ unthankful,” but also “ unholy,” and “ lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” If God is being forgotten, and likewise the mul titude of His tender mercies which are Over all His works, can we be surprised that even children are growing up un thankful? We seldom hear the “ Thank you” which ought to characterize child ren as well as those who are older. There is so much, even apart from eternal salvation, that should call forth gratitude. God makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good. (Matt. 5. 45). He causes food to grow out of the earth, and He openeth His hand and satisfleth the desire of every living thing. Oh, how much there is for which to thank God. But, alas, even we who love Him, because He first loved us, fail to thank Him as we should. We, like to others, take the daily mercies almost as a “ matter of course.” For example, we do not thank God for phy sical life, and all that is given to sustain it. Have we not oftentimes failed to render again for the benefits which God has in wondrous lové bestowed upon us? We are so apt to forget that “ every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). We had nothing except our sins, so that all we have is from God. How thankful we should be for even a measure of health, and for the mental powers which God has
ANY CHRISTIAN. (See Page 1180)
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