228 DIRECTIONS HOW TO LEAD A comfort thence ; and yet dost thou not lose thy oppor- tunities, and lie below, when thou shouldst walk above, and live with God ? Dost thou not commend the sweet- ness of a heavenly life, and judge those the best Chris- tians that use it, and yet never try it thyself? As the sluggard that stretches himself on his bed, and cries, O that this were working ! so dost thou talk, and trifle, and live at ease, and say, O that I could get my heart to heaven ! How many read books, and hear sermons, expecting to hear of some easier way, or to meet with a shorter course to comfort than they are ever like to find in scripture ! Or they ask for directions for a hea- venly life, and if the bearing them will serve, they will be heavenly Christians ; but if we show them their irork, and tell them they cannot have these delights on easier terms, then they leave us, as the young man left Christ, sorrowful. If thou art convinced, Reader, that this work is necessary to thy comfort, set upon it resolutely : if thy heart draw back force it on with the command of reason ; if thy reason begin to dispute, pro- duce the command of God, and urge thy own necessity, with the other considerations suggested in the former chapter. Let not such an incomparable treasure lie be- fore thee, with thy hand in thy bosom, nor thy life be a continual vexation, when it might be a continual feast, only because thou wilt not exert thyself Sit not still with a disconsolate spirit, while comforts grow before thine eyes, like a man in the midst of a garden of flowers, that will not rise to get them, and partake of their sweetness. This I know, Christ is the fountain but the well is deep, and thou must get forth this water before thou canst be refreshed with it. I know, so far as you are spiritual, you need not all this striving and vio- lence ; but in part you are carnal, and as long as it is so there is need of labour. It was a custom of the Parthians, not to give their children any meat in the morning before they saw the sweat on their faces with some labour. And you shall find this to be God's usual course, not to give his children the tastes of his de- lights till they begin to sweat in seeking after them.- - Judge, therefore, whether a heavenly life, or thy carnal
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