Jill: Dad, do we
have to give God our thanks always for all things?
THOMAS:
Yes, my darling, we need to. Thanking God is united with unceasing joy and
prayer for what He has given us. Our prayer for what we still need.
JILL:
It is basic though.
THOMAS:
The habitual spirit of thankfulness is the inner music of all Christian life.
JILL:
A good expression of our consciousness of God.
THOMAS:
Yes, Jill. There is fear and reverence. We are under obligation to give thanks
for the mercies bestowed upon us.
JILL:
To give God my most humble and hearty thanks for His goodness and
loving-kindness.
THOMAS:
Such idea is beautiful, and it accords with the requirements of the Bible.
JILL:
I rejoice in the happiness of others as well as in my own.
Thomas: Yes, that’s right Jill. Another effect
would be to make us feel a deeper interest in the condition of our fellow man.
JILL:
Another would be to lift up and enlarge our conceptions of the goodness of God.
THOMAS:
Yes, good girl. It directs the mind to all the favors which he has bestowed on us.
We have much for which to be grateful; and the duty of acknowledging the mercy
of God to us should not be forgotten.
JILL:
God is the fountain of every blessing in creation.
THOMAS:
We must continue our thanksgiving through the whole course of our lives without
weariness, as the Bible says, “For all things; all sorts of mercies, among
which afflictions may be reckoned, as working for good to them that love God.”
JILL:
Yes, Dad. In thanking God, even the greatest trials and sorrows become real
blessings.
THOMAS:
Yes, Jill.