BE YE THANKFUL by John Matteson

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 31, 1869

“BE YE THANKFUL.”

By John Matteson

To be thankful is to be mindful of benefits. To be thankful towards God is, to remember the blessings and favors which he has bestowed upon us, with a deep sense of the great obligations we are under to God; obligations for blessings of this life and blessings of eternal life; blessings from earth, and blessings from Heaven; blessings, which our heavenly Father’s love, combined with the tender compassion of our blessed Redeemer, has secured for us; blessings which all the gold of earth could not secure, but they are bought with a great price, the blood of the Lamb. His tears, his groans, his sufferings, and death—oh! how much it cost Jesus to secure eternal blessings for the lost children of Adam. Shall we be unmindful of it? Shall our feelings of gratitude be untouched by such infinite, such melting love? Shall we be numbered at last among those who are “unthankful, unholy?” And that after we have been instructed so faithfully, so patiently, in the great things of the kingdom of Heaven? It seems to me that a very thick mantle of shame and contempt would cover us in the great and awful day. It seems to me that among all men we would be most frantic to find a covering under rocks and mountains, to hide our blushing face from the searching looks of Jesus. Alas! for the burning, blushing shame that will cover many an unprepared and backslidden Sabbath-keeper, when the Lord shall appear.

True thankfulness leads to humility, zeal, and obedience. What can I do, in return, for Him who has done so much for me? How can I best honor and remember him, who has so faithfully and constantly remembered me? The Highest “is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.” He was kind to me when I was unthankful and evil. He loved me before I loved him. How can I best improve my little remaining time, so as to express the greatest possible degree of thankfulness to him “who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies?”

“And be ye thankful.” Col. iii, 15. What a blessed exhortation! Who will remember it! “Be thankful unto the Lord, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” Ps. c. Here are some good reasons for being thankful: The goodness and mercy of the Lord are still in lively exercise, and even to this last, most wicked generation, his truth has appeared. With clearness and beauty, the light still shineth in darkness. But how slow the comprehension of God’s children amid the terrible darkness of the last days. Who will be thankful for light and truth, by faithful practice?

“But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place.” “For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God?” “Giving thanks always for all things, unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Here are reasons for thanksgiving. Soon we shall obtain eternal victory over death. How this blessed expectation ought daily to awaken new emotions of thankfulness to God in our hearts, and stimulate to new deeds of love.

Finally, we should thank God for all things, which do in any way contribute to our salvation. Must I also thank God for chastisements, and rebukes, and sharp things, and a rough experience, the memory of which still causes my heart to tremble? Yes, indeed! Inasmuch as the grace of God has been manifested in all this to bring me nearer to Christ, inasmuch I will be exceedingly thankful. Yes; thank God for the hard school which prepared Joseph for the throne of Egypt, Moses to be the leader of Israel, Jesus the captain of our salvation. Thank God for the ragged school of experience. Here I discover the narrow path which leads to life. Here I behold the footprints of Jesus. Here will I place my trembling foot, determined to follow the faithful. Dear Saviour, give me, and every weak follower of Jesus, grace to abound more in genuine thanksgiving through the remainder of our journey.

JOHN MATTESON.