The next night Thomas felt so ashamed, that he determined not to pray, and laid his head on a prayerless pillow,—a thing he had not done since he was able to say, “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.” The last words of his father, “Don’t be ashamed to pray” came to his mind; but thinking about them as little as possible, he soon fell asleep.
In a short time Thomas became the ringleader of the gang in all that was bad, and soon learned to curse and swear worse than any of his companions.
On a beautiful Sabbath morning, instead of going to church, he wandered off, and finding nothing to engage his thoughts, determined to take a bath. He had scarcely been in the water five minutes, when he was seized with cramp, and sunk to rise no more. The last words that lingered on the lips of the drowning boy were, “Oh, my mother!”
The awful death of Thomas speaks for itself. May it serve as a warning to those who violate God’s holy commandment, and are ashamed to pray. May it also teach us how quickly one sin leads to another. His first sin was neglecting to pray; his second, profanity; his third, Sabbath-breaking, which terminated in his death.
NOT ASHAMED OF CHRIST.
“Jesus, and shall it ever be,
A mortal man ashamed of Thee?
Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise,
Whose glories shine through endless days!