"Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.” – Psalm 73:25
“A Christian in his saddest condition can enjoy God as his portion. You, who have chosen the world for your portion, have you not read what a perishing portion it is? I offer you today a portion worthy of your choicest affection, a portion that, if you accept it, the richest emperor in the world would be a beggar to you. It is a portion that contains more wealth than heaven and earth. If a man would offer you a bag of gold or a bag of brass tokens, a bag of pearls or a bag of sand, which would you choose? Surely you know!
Will you fail to choose him for your portion? Would you choose a little honor before the exceeding and eternal weight of glory? This is to choose broken cisterns before a fountain of living water, dirt before diamonds, drops before the ocean, and nothing before all things. Man, where is your reason? Why set your heart on earthly treasure when you have the desire of all nations to set your heart upon? If you knew the blessed God, and who it is that is offered to you—the sweetest love, the richest mercy, the surest friend, the fullest happiness and the highest honor—then you would leave the merchants of this world who load themselves with dirt, and turn your interests to the other world. You would more willingly leave these frothy joys and drossy delights for the enjoyment of God; yes, more than a prisoner would leave his fetters and the misery of jail, for the liberty, pleasures, and preferments of a court. O reader, if you could see the vastness, suitableness, and fullness of God as your portion, I am confident, though you used to esteem the world with all of its delights, you would leave these to the men of this world who prefer their own country, and would fetch your riches from afar…
God comes, and He offers for the heart the precious blood of His Son, the curious embroidery of His Spirit , the noble employment of angels, the fullness of joy, and the infinite satisfaction of His blessed self to all eternity. Now why is the devil’s money accepted, the world’s offer embraced, & God’s rejected? Truly, men do not know the worth of what God offers them…
A man who sees a candle after fourteen years, having been born in a dark dungeon, wonders at its glory, delights in beholding it, & inquires into its nature. Bring him afterwards into the open air to behold the sun, & all his wonder will be directed to this great luminary. Man is taken up with the candle of creature comforts. Let him once see the Sun of Righteousness, the all-sufficient & eternal God, the excellence of His glorious being, & that which was glorious before has no more glory in comparison to the sight God.” – George Swinnock
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