The saints everlasting rest

1. Because seldom conversing with him will breed a strangeness betwixt thy soul and GOD: frequent society breeds familiarity, and familiarity increaseth love and delight, and maketh us bold and confident in our addresses. This is the main end of this duty, that thou mayst have acquaintance and fellowship with GOD therein; therefore if thou come but seldom to it, thou wilt keep thyself a stranger still, and so miss of the end of the work. 2. Seldomness will make thee unskilful in the work, and strange to the duty, as well as to GOD. How clumsily do men set their hands to a work they are seldom employed in! whereas frequency will habituate thy heart to the work, and thou wilt better know the way in which thou daily walkest, yea, and it will be more easy and delightful also: the hill which made thee pant and blow at the first going up, thou mayst run up easily when thou art once accustomed to it. 3. And lastly, Thou wilt lose that heat and life by long intermissions, which with much ado thou didst obtain in duty. If thou eat but a meal in two or three days, thou wilt lose thy strength as fast as thou gettest it: if in holy meditation thou get near to Christ, and warm thy heart with the fire of love, if thou then turn away, and come but seldom, thou wilt soon return to thy former coldness.

It is true, the intermixed use of other duties may do much to the keeping thy heart above, especially secret prayer: but meditation is the life of most other duties; and the view of heaven is the life of meditation.

3. Concerning the time of this duty, I advise thee, that thou choose the most seasonable time. All things are beautiful in their season. Unseasonableness may lose thee the fruit of thy labour; it may raise disturbances and difficulties in the work; yea, it may turn a duty to sin; when the seasonableness of a duty doth make it easy, doth remove impediments, doth embolden us to the undertaking, and ripen its fruit.