42 Appreciative Thankfulness. CHAP. 



of swine. This root of sin is in us all, but in him it 

 was not so full-grown as to bring forth death. 1 The 

 purpose of this conversation is to show the special 

 dangers of those who have never left the Father's 

 house, and live all their lives in the habitual service 

 of God ; and, further, to show the safeguard against 

 these dangers ; namely, to appreciate the blessings of 

 such a life as they deserve. The father's answer, 

 " Son, thou art ever with me, and all that is mine is 

 thine," was no new revelation; it might have been 

 introduced with "remember"; he seemed to have 

 forgotten it. We may imagine the father adding, 

 "If thou hast not, it is because thou askest not." 2 

 What more could man or angel desire than this, to be 

 a child of God, living from his birth in the light of 

 his Father's presence, heir of his Father's treasures, 

 and even now able to have whatever he wants for the 

 asking *? Nothing more is needed, except the spirit 

 which appreciates these privileges and blessings. It 

 was this spirit of thankful reception that was wanting 

 to the elder son he did not remember what his 

 position was in his father's house. Had he rightly 

 remembered it, he would not have wished to feast 

 with his own friends apart from his father, and 

 would have loved the Prodigal for the father's sake, 

 if not for his own. 



1 James i. 15, Revised Version. 



2 "Ye have not, because ye ask not" (James iv. 2.) It is 

 not at all unlikely that this may be a saying of Christ. This 

 Epistle is full of allusions to Christ's recorded teaching. 



