A Christian Directory

Direct. 1. Consider well that the Love of our Creator, Redeemer and Regenerator, is the very end for which we are Created, Redeemed and Regenerate, and how just it is that God should have the end of such excellent works; and that by neglecting or opposing the Love of God which is the end, we neglect or oppose the works of Creation, Redemption and Regeneration themselves. Let us plead these Works of God with our hearts, and say, 1. O sluggish soul! dost thou forget the use for which thou wast created? and for which thou wast endued with Rational faculties? Dost thou repent that thou art a man? and refuse the employment of a man? What is the means or instrument good for, but its proper End and Use and action? God made the Sun to shine, and it shineth: He made the Earth to support us and bear fruit, and it doth accordingly. And he made thee to Love him, and wilt thou refuse and disobey? How noble and excellent is thy employment, in comparison of theirs? Is the fruit of the earth, or the labour of thy Beast, or the service of any inferior creature, so sweet and honourable a work as thine, to KNOW and LOVE thy Bountiful Glorious Creator? How happy is thy Lot? How blessed is thy portion in comparison of theirs? And dost thou forsake thy place, and descend to more ignoble objects, as if thou hadst rather have been some silly sordid animal? If thou hadst not rather be a Beast than a Man, why choosest thou the love, and pleasures, of a Beast, and refusest the love and pleasures of a man? Is Creation, and the Image of God in a Rational free soul, a thing to be thus contemned for nothing? What is the Sun good for, if it should yield no light or heat? And what art thou good for more than the beasts that perish, if thou KNOW not and LOVE not thy Creator? If God should offer to unman thee and turn thee into a Horse or Dog, thou wouldst think he thrust thee into misery: And yet thou canst voluntarily and wilfully unman thy self, and take it as thy ease and pleasure. If death came this night to dissolve thy nature, it would not please thee: And yet thou canst daily destroy thy nature, as to its Use and End, and not lament it! It were better I had never been a man, nor never had a Heart or Love, within ⟨p. 145⟩me, it I use it not in the holy Love of my Creator. It is true, I have a Body that is made to eat, and drink, and sleep:

Direct. 1. Consider well that the Love of our Creator, Redeemer and Regenerater, is the very end for which we are Created, Redeemed and Regenerate, and how just it is that God should have the end of such excellent works; and that by neglecting or opposing the Love of God which is the end, we neglect or oppose the works of Creation, Redemption and Regeneration themselves. Let us plead these Works of God with our hearts, and say, 1. O sluggish soul! dost thou forget the use for which thou wast created? and for which thou wast indued with Rational faculties? Dost thou repent that thou art a man? and refuse the employment of a man? What is the means or instrument good for, but its proper End and Use and action? God made the Sun to shine, and it shineth: He made the Earth to support us and bear fruit, and it doth accordingly. And he made thee to Love him, and wilt thou refuse and disobey? How noble and excellent is thy employment, in comparison of theirs? Is the fruit of the earth, or the labour of thy Beast, or the service of any inferiour creature, so sweet and honourable a work as thine, to KNOW and LOVE thy Bountiful Glorious Creator? How happy is thy Lot? How blessed is thy portion in comparison of theirs? And dost thou forsake thy place, and descend to more ignoble objects, as if thou hadst rather have been some silly fordid animal? If thou hadst not rather be a Beast than a Man, why choosest thou the love, and pleasures, of a Beast, and refusest the love and pleasures of a man? Is Creation, and the Image of God in a Rational free soul, a thing to be thus contemned for nothing? What is the Sun good for, if it should yield no light or heat? And what art thou good for more than the beasts that perish, if thou KNOW not and LOVE not thy Creator? If God should offer to unman thee and turn thee into a Horse or Dog, thou wouldst think he thrust thee into misery: And yet thou canst voluntarily and wilfully unman thy self, and take it as thy ease and pleasure. If death came this night to dissolve thy nature, it would not please thee: And yet thou canst daily destroy thy nature, as to its Use and End, and not lament it! It were better I had never been a man, nor never had a Heart or Love, within