Page:The pastor in his closet.djvu/47

 pleasures, and such like things, where it must needs be hard to keep an unworldly heart, to walk by faith, not to be entangled in spirit in the affairs of this world, to love Thee more than the world, to look up stedfastly to Thee when so many things serve to draw the eyes, yea, and the heart, down to the ground.

Happy am I that it is mine office, my business to pray, to read holy books, to give heed to souls, to minister to the sick, to go into the houses of mourning, “for that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart.”

And yet, O Lord, Thou hast said in Thy Holy Word that to whom much is given of him will much be required. Having advantages beyond other men, ought I not to walk more carefully? With so holy an office, ought I not to be a holy person? In what a prepared and watchful state of soul ought I to live, if at any moment I may be called upon to kneel down and pray with the sick, if I must be so frequently offering up prayers, so frequently receiving the Holy Communion, and daily discoursing on heavenly things! It is a great matter to be always ready for prayer, to have a grave and prepared mind, so as not to sin against Thee by uttering any thing hastily before Thee. How entirely should I be possessed with