Thoughts of Grace

Deuteronomy 26:11
And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing
which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee,
and unto thine house, . . .

Gratitude consists in a watchful, minute attention
to the particulars of our state,
and to the multitude of God’s gifts,
taken one by one.
It fills us with a consciousness
that God loves and cares for us,
even to the least event
and smallest need of life.
It is a blessed thought,
that from our childhood
God has been laying His fatherly hands upon us,
and always in benediction;
that even the strokes of His hands are blessings,
and among the chiefest we have ever received.
When this feeling is awakened,
the heart beats with a pulse of thankfulness.
Every gift has its return of praise.
It awakens an unceasing daily converse with our Father,
–He speaking to us by the descent of blessings,
we to Him by the ascent of thanksgiving.
And all our whose life is thereby drawn
under the light of His countenance,
and is filled with a gladness, serenity, and peace
which only thankful hearts can know.
H. E. MANNING.

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