How Then Shall We Live, According to a Puritan

Richard Rogers, "Seven Treatises":

Sundry necessary observations for a Christian, fit also to meditate upon. 

1. That we keep a narrow watch over our hearts, words, and deeds continually. 

2. That with all care the time be redeemed, which hath been idly, carelessly, and unprofitably spent. 

3. That once in the day at the least private prayer and meditation be used.

4. That care be had to do, and receive good in company.

5. That our family be with diligence and regard instructed, watched over and governed.

6. That no more time or care be bestowed in matters of the world, then must needs.

7. That we stir up ourselves to liberality to God's Saints.

8. That we give not the least bridle to wandering lusts and affections.

9. That we prepare ourselves to bear the cross, by what means it shall please God to exercise us.

10. That we bestow some time not only in mourning for our own sins, but also for the sins of the time and age wherein we live.

11. That we look daily for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, for our full deliverance out of this life.

12. That we use (as we shall have opportunity, at least as we shall have neccessity) to acquaint our selves with some godly and faithful person, with whom we may confer of our Christian estate, and open our doubts, to the quickening up of Gods graces in us.

13. That we observe the departure of men our of this life, their mortality, the vanity and alteration of things below, the more to condemn the world, and to continue our longing after the life to come. And that we meditate and muse often of our own death, and going out of this life, how we must lie in the grave, all our glory put off; which will serve to beat down the pride of life that is in us.

14. That we read somewhat daily of the holy Scriptures, for the further increase of our knowledge, if it may be.

15. That we enter into covenant with the Lord to strive against all sin, and especially against the special sins and corruptions of our hearts and lives, wherein we have most dishonored the Lord, and have raised up most guiltiness to our own consciences, and that we carefully see our covenant be kept and continued.

16. That we mark how sin dieth and is weakened in us, and that we turn not to our old sins again, but wisely avoid all occasions to sin.

17. That we fall not from our first love, but continue still our affections to the liking of Gods word, and all the holy exercises of religion diligently hearing it, and faithfully practicing the same in our lives and conversations: that we prepare our selves before we come, and meditate and confer of that we hear, either by our selves, or with other: and so mark our daily profiting in religion.

18. That we be often occupied in meditating on Gods benefits and works, and sound forth his praises for the same.

19. That we exercise our faith by taking comfort and delight in the great benefit of our redemption by Christ, and the fruition of Gods presence, in his glorious and blessed kingdom.

20. Lastly, that we make not these holy practices of repentance common in time, nor use them for course.

The Business of God's Day

Joseph Hall, "the first man in England to publish letters in English" (Frank Livingstone Huntley, Bishop Joseph Hall and Protestant Meditation in Seventeenth-Century England, p. 17), wrote a memorable letter to Edward Denny in which he described how he spent his days at Waltham Abbey, England, which is where began his famous 22-year project which was published as Contemplations on the Historical Passages of the Old and New Testaments. This letter is very much a model of how I personally wish to live my days to the Lord. In it he describes how "every day is a little life" and how therefore he practically lived out this maxim written earlier in Three Centuries of Meditations and Vowes, Divine and Morall (1606):

Each day is a new life, and an abridgment of the whole. I will so live, as if I counted every day my first, and my last; as if I began to live but then, and should live no more afterwards.

At the conclusion of this letter, he gives a brief summation of how he aimed to spend each Christian Sabbath, which I commend to the edification of our souls on this Lord's Day.

Joseph Hall, Ep. 2 Dec. 6, Epistles, in Six Decades (1608, 1611), Works, Vol. 6, pp. 282-283:

Such are my common days. But God's day calls for another respect. The same sun arises on this day, and enlightens it; yet, because that Sun of Righteousness arose upon it, and gave a new life unto the world in it, and drew the strength of God's moral precept unto it, therefore justly do we sing with the Psalmist, This is the day which the Lord hath made. Now I forget the world, and in a sort myself; and deal with my wonted thoughts, as great men use, who, at some times of their privacy, forbid the access of all suitors. Prayer, meditation, reading, hearing, preaching, singing, good conference, are the business of this day; which I dare not bestow on any work or pleasure but heavenly. I hate superstition on the one side, and looseness on the other: but I find it hard to offend in too much devotion; easy, in profaneness. The whole week is sanctified by this day; and, according to my care of this, is my blessing on the rest.

I show your lordship what I would do, and what I ought: I commit my desires to the imitation of the weak; my actions to the censures of the wise and holy; my weaknesses, to the pardon and redress of my merciful God.

Floweret

Jeremias de Dekker, in John Bowring and Harry S. Van Dyk, eds., Batavian Anthology (1825), pp. 168-170:

The Too-Early-Opening Flower

Teer bloemeken, sie wat ghij doet.

Not yet, frail flower! thy charms unclose;
Too soon thou venturist forth again;
For April has its winter-rain,
And tempest-clouds, and nipping snows.
Too quickly thou uprear'st thy head;
The northern wind may reach thee still,
And injure -- nay, for ever kill
Thy charming white and lovely red.
And thou perchance too late wilt sigh,
That at the first approach of spring
Thou mad'st thy bud unfold its wing,
And show its blush to every eye;
For March a faithless smile discloses.
If thou wouldst bloom securely here,
Let Phoebus first o'ertake the steer:
Thou'rt like the seaman, who reposes
On one fair day -- one favouring wind,
Weighs anchor, and the future braves:
But sighs, when on the ocean waves,
For that calm port he leaves behind,
As with an anxious eye he sees
His shatter'd hull and shiver'd sail
Borne at the mercy of the gale
Wherever winds and waters please;
And deems, as he is sinking fast
The sands and brine and foam beneath,
That every wave contains a death,
That every plunge will be his last.
Thou'rt like the courtier, who, elate
When greeted first by favour's ray,
Begins to make a grand display: --
But, ah! it is a fickle state.
A court is like a garden-shade;
The courtiers and the flowers that rise
Too suddenly, 'neath changeful skies,
Oft sink into the dust and fade.
In short, we all like thy flower,
And ever, both in weal and woe,
With strange perverseness, we bestow
Our thoughts on time's swift-fleeting hour.
And 'tis the same with those who pine,
And deem that grief will never flee,
And those who, bred in luxury,
Think the gay sun will always shine.
For every joy brings sorrow too,
And even grief may herald mirth;
And God has mingled life on earth
With bitterness and honey-dew.
Thus winter follows summer's bloom,
And verdant summer winter's blight;
Thus reigns by turns the day and night; --
Change is the universal doom.
Then, floweret! when thy charms have fled,
All wither'd by a fate unkind,
Call wisdom's proverb to thy mind --
Soon green, soon gray -- soon ripe, soon dead.

Our Employment Lies In Heaven

John Eliot, in Cotton Mather, Magnalia Christi Americana: Or, The Ecclesiastical History of New England, Vol. 1, p. 535:

Behold, the ancient and excellent character of a true Christian; 'tis that which Peter calls 'holiness in all manner of conversation;' you shall not find a Christian out of the way of godly conversation. For, first, a seventh part of our time is all spent in heaven, when we are duly zealous for, and zealous on the Sabbath of God. Besides, God has written on the head of the Sabbath, REMEMBER, which looks both forwards and backwards, and thus a good part of the week will be spent in sabbatizing. Well, but for the rest of our time! Why, we shall have that spent in heaven, ere we have done. For, secondly, we have many days for both fasting and thanksgiving in our pilgrimage; and here are so many Sabbaths more. Moreover, thirdly, we have our lectures every week; and pious people won't miss them, if they can help it. Furthermore, fourthly, we have our private meetings, wherein we pray, and sing, and repeat sermons, and confer together about the things of God; and being now come thus far, we are in heaven almost every day. But a little farther, fifthly, we perform family-duties every day; we have our morning and evening sacrifices, wherein having read the Scriptures to our families, we call upon the name of God, and ever now and then carefully catechise those that are under our charge. Sixthly, we shall also have our daily devotions in our closets; wherein unto supplication before the Lord, we shall add some serious meditation upon his word: a David will be at this work no less than thrice a day. Seventhly, we have likewise many scores of ejaculations in a day; and these we have, like Nehemiah, in whatever place we come into. Eighthly we have our occasional thoughts and our occasional talks upon spiritual matters; and we have our occasional acts of charity, wherein we do like the inhabitants of heaven every day. Ninthly, in our callings, in our civil callings, we keep up heavenly frames; we buy and sell, and toil; yea, we eat and drink, with some eye both to the command and honour of God in all. Behold, I have not now left an inch of time to be carnal; it is all engrossed for heaven. And yet, lest here should not be enough, lastly, we have our spiritual warfare. We are always encountring the enemies of our souls, which continually raises our hearts unto our Helper and Leader in the heavens. Let no man say, ''Tis impossible to live at this rate;' for we have known some live thus; and others that have written of such a life have but spun a web out of their own blessed experiences. New-England has example of this life: though, alas! 'tis to be lamented that the distractions of the world, in too many professors, do beecloud the beauty of an heavenly conversation. In fine, our employment lies in heaven. In the morning, if we ask, 'Where am I to be to day?' our souls must answer, 'In heaven.' In the evening, if we ask, 'Where have I been to-day?' our souls may answer, 'In heaven.' If thou art a believer, thou art no stranger to heaven while thou livest; and when thou diest, heaven will be no strange place to thee; no, thou hast been there a thousand times before.

Do All The Good You Can

Although widely ascribed to John Wesley as his "Rule for Living" or "Rule of Conduct," and sung to the composition by Fanny Crosby, the following lines do not actually appear in the writings of John Wesley:

Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.

Words and wisdom to similar effect do, however, appear in Richard Baxter, A Christian Directory (1673) in The Practical Works of Richard Baxter, Vol. 1, p. 231 (also cited in William Gearing (English Puritan, c. 1625-c. 1690), The Sacred Diary; or, Select Meditations For Every Part of the Day and the Employments Thereof (1679), p. v, and ascribed to "the judgment of a reverend divine"):

And as these five things are presupposed, so these following are contained in our redeeming time. 1. To see that we cast none of it away in vain; but use every minute of it as a most precious thing, and spend it wholly in the way of duty. 2. That we be not only doing good, but doing the best good we are able and have a call to do. 3. That we do not only the best things, but do them in the best manner, and in the greatest measure, and do as much good as possibly we can. 4. That we watch for special opportunities. 5. That we presently take them when they fall, and improve them when we take them. 6. That we part with all that is to be parted with, to save our time. 7. That we forecast the preventing of impediments, the removal of our clogs, and the obtaining of all helps to expedition in duty. This is the true redeeming of our time.

Vincent Van Gogh, The Good Samaritan:

Equestrian Hours

How do we spend our waiting time? our travel time? the time between the scheduled times? Do we make good use of each and every precious opportunity to glorify God? John Calvin wrote that "We are not to spend a single minute without considering [God]" (Sermon on Gen. 2.1-6, preached on September 19, 1559, in Sermons on Genesis, p. 127). This is called in God's Word "redeeming the time" (Eph. 5.16).

Writing of Richard Baxter, who famously self-described himself as a "pen in God's hand", I.D.E. Thomas noted how Baxter made such good use of the time he spent traveling on horseback (Puritan Daily Devotional Chronicles):

It is claimed that John Flavel wrote 29 books, John Owen 80 books, and Richard Baxter -- Mr. Puritan himself -- no less than 168 books. Baxter was the most prolific writer of the 17th century. One writer states that his works include over 60 million words! A number of these books were written by Baxter when he was on horseback going to preach in various towns and cities. He used a poor goose quill pen and had installed an inkwell in his saddle.

Methodist Episcopal circuit riders such as Peter Cartwright (1785-1872) and Francis Asbury (1745-1816) and Robert Booth (1820-1917) are all portrayed on equestrian statues reading the Bible. Abraham Lincoln is portrayed on an equestrian statue reading his law books.

Robert Estienne (1503-1509), the most famous French Huguenot printer of the Genevan Reformation, following in the footsteps of Stephen Langton (c. 1150-1228), Hugh of Saint-Cher (c. 1200-1263), and Santes Pagnino (1470-1541), was the first to divide the Greek New Testament into standard numbered verses (7959), which he did while traveling on horseback between Paris and Lyons.

"Diary of [Isaac] Casaubon," The London Quarterly Review (July-Oct. 1853), Vol. 83, p. 249:

[Henri Estienne (1528/1531-1598)]  travelled, as was customary before the days of passable roads, on horseback, but on a high-spirited and mettlesome Arab, and not on the spavined hacks of the post-houses. These seasons -- for his teeming imagination could not be idle -- were claimed by his muse. An epigram, or a prologue, or a soliloquy, was composed and written down, without drawing rein.* Like the author of Marmion [Sir Walter Scott], his poetical excitement required a gallop. He talks as much of his horses as Scully, and has sung the praises of one which he bought at the fair of Francfort [sic]; and bewailed in elegaics the way in which he was jockeyed in a deal at Zurzach [sic]. His equestrian feats intrude themselves into his gravest dissertations, and he will break out in the middle of a preface to Apollonius Rhodius into an anecdote of how he once leaped a toll-gate on the high-road near Francfort.

* His father before him is supposed to have improved these equestrian hours. It was Robert Estienne that divided the New Testament into verses, and his son Henri tells us that was effected during a journey from Lyons to Paris, inter equitandum. The phrase has been commonly supposed to signify that he performed the task upon horseback, but Michaelis thought it might only mean that he did it between the stages while taking his ease at his inn. The first and literal interpretation is doubtless correct. John Wesley read hundreds of volumes as he ambled upon his nag from one preaching station to another, and, however difficult it might have been to pencil figures upon the margin of the Testament when mounted upon the fiery Arab of Henri, it might easily have been accomplished upon the hack of Robert, which was probably as steady as his desk.

With apologies to Dr. Seuss -- whether on a horse, on a boat, in a car, on a train, or on a plane, if we have hours to spend, let us remember man's chief end: to glorify God. Therefore, let us follow the example of others who have spent them well.

A Time to Meditate

Thomas Manton, Sermons Upon Gen. 24.63 in The Works of Thomas Manton, Vol. 17, pp. 265-266; and 298-299:

4. The last circumstance in the text is the time, 'In the even-tide,' which is also a matter of an arbitrary concernment. Time in itself is but an inactive circumstance; all hours are alike to God; he taketh no more pleasure in the sixth or ninth hour than in the first hour; only you should prudently observe when your spirit is most fresh and smart. To some the morning is quickest, the fancy being fittest to offer spiritual and heavenly thoughts, before it hath received any images and representations from carnal objects abroad. Morning thoughts are, as it were, virgin thoughts of the mind, before they have been prostituted to these inferior and baser objects, and so are more pure and sublime and defecate; and then the soul, like the hind of the morning, with a swift and nimble readiness climbeth up to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense: Song of Sol. 4:6,’Until the day break and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of mvrrh and to the hill of frankincense;’ and it tended much to season the whole day when we can talk with the law in the morning: Prov. 6:22, ‘When thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.' To some the evening seemeth fitter, that when the gayishness and vanity of the spirit hath been spent in business, their thoughts may be more serious and solemn with God; and after the weights have been running down all day through their employments of the world, they may wind them up again at night in these recesses and exercises of piety and religion; as David says; Ps. 25:1, 'Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.' To others the silence and stillness of the night seemeth to be an help, and because of the curtain of darkness that is drawn between them and the world, they can the better entertain serious and solemn thoughts of God. David speaks everywhere in the psalms of his nocturnal devotions: Ps. 63:6, ‘When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night-watches.’ The expression is taken from the custom of the Jews, who divided the night into so many watches. Whilst others were reposing their bodies on their beds, David was reposing his soul in the bosom of God, and he have the less rest to his eyes that he might give the more to his soul. So Ps. 119:148, ‘Mine eyes prevent the night-watches, that I might meditate in thy word.’ Certainly in the night, when we are taken off from other business, we have the greatest command of our thoughts, and the covert of darkness that God hath stretched over the world begetteth a greater awe and reverence. Therefore Mr. [Richard] Greenham, when he pressed any weighty point, and perceived any careless, used to beg of them that, if God by his providence should suffer them to awake in the night, they would but think of his words. Certainly the mind, being by sleep emptied of other cares, like a mill falleth upon itself, and the natural awe and terror is the effect of darkness helpeth to make the thoughts more solemn and serious. So that you see much may be said for the conveniency of either of these seasons, evening or morning, or night. It is your duty to be faithful to your own souls, and sometimes to take the advantage either of the night or of the day, or the morning, or the evening as best suits us. David saith, Ps. 119:97, ‘Oh! how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.’ So he describes his blessed man: Ps.1:2, ‘His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night;’ that is, sometimes in the day and sometimes in the night; no time can come amiss to a prepared spirit. Isaac’s hour was in the even-tide; in the evening he went out to meditate, in which two things are notable:...
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CASE 4. When must we meditate?

1. In the general, something should be done every day; seldom converse begetteth a strangeness to God, and an unfitness for the duty. It is a description of God's servant, Ps.1:2, ' His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.' At least we should take all convenient occasions. It is an usual way of natural men to make conscience of duties after a long neglect; they perform duties to pacify a natural conscience, and use them as a man would use a sleepy potion or strong waters; they are good at a pinch, not for constant drink. Alas! we lose by such wide gaps and distances between performance and performance; it is as if we had never done it before.

2. For the particular time of the day when you should meditate, that is arbitrary. I told you before you may do it either in the silence of the night, when God hath drawn a curtain of darkness between you and the things of the world; or in the freshness of the morning, or in the evening, when the wildness and vanity of the mind is spent in worldly business.

3. There are some special solemn times, when the duty is most in season:
[1.] After a working sermon; after the word hath fallen upon you with a full stroke, it is good to follow the blow; and when God hath cast seed into the heart, let not the fowls peck it away : Matt 13:19, ' When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.' Ruminate on the word, chew the end; many a sermon is lost because it is not whet upon the thoughts: James 1: 23, 24, ' He is like a man that beholdeth his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was:' Matt. 22: 22, ' When they heard these things, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.' You should roll the word in your thoughts, and deeply consider of it.
[2.] Before some solemn duties, as before the Lord's supper, and before special times of deep humiliation, or before the sabbath. Meditation is, as it were, the breathing of the soul; that it may the better hold out in religious exercises, it is a good preparative to raise the spirits into a frame of piety and religion. When the harp is fitted and tuned, it doth the better make music; so when the heart is fixed and settled by a preparative meditation, it is the fitter to make melody to God in worship.
[3.] When God doth specially revive and enable the Spirit. It is good to take advantage of the Spirit's gales; so fresh a wind should make us hoist up our sails. Do not lose the Spirit's seasons; the Spirit's impulses are good significations from God that now is an acceptable time.

Case 5. What time is to be spent in the duty?

I answer - That is left to spiritual discretion. Suck the teat as long as milk cometh. Duties must not be spun out to an unnecessary length. You must neither yield to laziness, nor occasion spiritual weariness; the devil hath advantage upon you both ways. When you rack and torture your spirits after they have been spent, it makes the work of God a bondage; and therefore come not off till you find profit, and do not press too hard upon the soul, nor oppress it with an indiscreet zeal. It is Satan's policy to make you out of love with meditation by spinning it out to a tediousness and an unnecessary length.

Case 6. Whether should the time be set and constant?

I answer - It is good to bind the heart to somewhat, and yet leave it to such a liberty as becomes the gospel. Bind it to somewhat every day, that the heart may not be loose and arbitrary. We see that necessity quickeneth and urgeth, and when the soul is engaged it goes to work the more thoroughly. Therefore the Lord asks, Jer. 22:21, ' Who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me?' It is good to lay a tie upon the heart; and yet I advise not to a set stinted hour, lest we create a snare to ourselves. Though a man should resist distractions and distempers, yet some business is unavoidable, and some distempers are invincible. I have observed this, that even religious persons are more sensible of their own vows than of God's commands; when men have bound up themselves in chains of their own making, their consciences fall upon them, and dog them with restless accusations, when they cannot accomplish so much duty as they have set and pre-scribed to themselves. And besides, when hours are customary and set, the heart groweth formal and superstitious.

On My Candle Burning Out

Heiman Dullaart (1639-1684), was a student of Rembrandt van Rijn, who has come to be better known for his poetry than his paintings.

Heiman Dullaart, On My Candle Burning Out (trans. by Frank J. Warnke, in Harold B. Segel, ed., The Baroque Poem: A Comparative Survey, p. 161):

O rapidly extinguished candle flame,
Since thou dost fail me in my busy search
For useful knowledge hid in volumes rich
For the eye which lust of knowing still doth claim.
Supply me with a book wherein to learn
My life's too brief and quickly running hour:
A lesson which the virtuous heart may pour
Into the heart of him who can discern.
Emblem which doth our transient life define,
Thou chok'st in darkness as thy light doth die,
But I through death from our my darkness fly
To the unquench'd light which doth in Heaven shine.

Heiman Dullaart, On My Candle, About to Burn Out (Martijn Zwart & Ethel Grene, Dutch Poetry in Translation: Kaleidoscope, p. 75):

O candle with your near-extinguished flame! You try
Your best to help me as I diligently look
To glean some wisdom out of every learned book,
So richly laden for a scholar's greedy eye;
And you give me a book that teaches me to start
To see these last hours of the mortal life I live,
A basic lesson that a virtuous heart could give
If an attentive man would take it to his heart.
But, living symbol of this fleeting life of mine,
You smother in the darkness with your light's last breath;
While I shall go out from my darkness now through death
To Heaven's quenchless light, that shall forever shine.

Heaven-Sent

The letters of David Brainerd, like those of Samuel Rutherford or Joseph Alleine, savor so sweetly of heaven that they seem sent from Immanuel's Land. Though his time in this vale of tears was short, he was conscious of the preciousness of time, possessing as he did a view of eternity, and made the most of the time given to him in order to answer his chief end, that is, to glorify God. And that was the view of time which he bequeathed to others. This is the counsel of one who tasted eternal bliss while on his earthly pilgrimage, and now sends word to us from heavenly places to be heavenly-minded.

Letter (II) to John Brainerd (Dec. 27, 1743):

I find nothing more conducive to a life of Christianity than a diligent, industrious, and faithful improvement of precious time.

Letter (III) to Israel Brainerd (Jan. 21, 1743/4):

Again, Be careful to make a good improvement of precious time. When you cease from labour, fill up your time in reading, meditation, and prayer: and while your hands are labouring, let your heart be employed, as much as possible, in divine thoughts.

Letter (IV) to a Special Friend (July 31, 1744):

Verily, no hours pass away with so much divine pleasure, as those that are spent in communing with God and our own hearts.

Letter (VI) to John Brainerd (Dec. 25, 1745):

My brother, "the time is short." Oh let us fill it up for God; let us "count the sufferings of this present time" as nothing, if we can but run our race, and finish our course with joy." Let us strive to live to God....I think I do not desire to live one minute for any thing that earth can afford. Oh that I could live for none but God, till my dying moment!

Letter (VII) to Israel Brainerd (Nov. 24, 1746):

Let me intreat you to keep eternity in view, and behave yourself as becomes one that must shortly "give an account of all things done in the body."

Letter (VIII) to Israel Brainerd (June 30, 1747):

It is from the sides of eternity I now address you....But let me tell you, my brother, eternity is another thing than we ordinarily take it to be in a healthful state. Oh how vast and boundless; how fixed and unalterable! Of what infinite importance is it, that we be prepared for eternity!

Letter (IX) to a Young Gentleman, a Candidate for the Ministry (Summer 1747):

How amazing it is that "the living who know that they must die," should notwithstanding put far away the evil day, in a season of health and prosperity; and live at such an awful distance from a familiarity with the grave, and the great concerns beyond it. Especially it may just fill us with surprise, that any whose minds have been divinely enlightened, to behold the important things of eternity as they are, I say, that such should live in this manner. And yet, Sir, how frequently is this the case. How rare are the instances of those who live and act, from day to day, as on the verge of eternity; striving to fill up all their remaining moments in the service and to the honour of the great Master. We insensibly triffle away time, while we seem to have enough of it; and are so strangely amused as in great measure to lose a sense of the holiness and blessed qualifications necessary to prepare us to be inhabitants of paradise. But oh, dear Sir, a dying bed, if we enjoy our reason clearly, will give another view of things.

Time is Precious

Elnathan Parr, Abba Father: Or, A Plaine and Short Direction Concerning Private Prayer; Also, Sundy Godly Admonitions Concerning Time, and the Well Using of It, pp. 109-112:

Time is the price of time; when thy profit, thy pleasure, thy vain delights, thy lusts, call thee after them: exchange time for time.

As thou givest thy money for meat, and apparel; so give these things to purchase the time of prayer, and well-doing.

Solomon saith, Buy the truth (Prov. 23.23): but Pilate saith: What is truth (John 18.38)? so Paul saith, buy the time: but our profane wretches say, What is time? let us spend it, say they, as though it were little worth.

Time is God's creature, he allows thee no time to be vain and wicked: but he gives thee time, that thou mayest repent and do good. Make thy advantage of it.

Of the time thou bestowest, in prayer, singing of Psalms, reading the Scriptures, and good books, and in doing good, it shall never repent thee. But time otherwise spent, will one day torment thy conscience.

Thou must give account for time; on this moment depends eternity; of blessedness if it will be well; of misery, if it be ill employed.

It is great wisdom to know the time, and to redeem it (Eph. 5.15, 16).

The men of Issachar were in great account with David, because they had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, so are they in great account with God, who regard and use the season of well doing.

Worship on Vacation

Scottish Directory for Family Worship:

XIV. When persons of divers families are brought together by Divine Providence, being abroad upon their particular vocations, or any necessary occasions; as they would have the Lord their God with them whithersoever they go, they ought to walk with God, and not neglect the duties of prayer and thanksgiving, but take care that the same be performed by such as the company shall judge fittest. And that they likewise take heed that no corrupt communication proceed out of their mouths, but that which is good, to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers.

Douglas Comin, Returning to the Family Altar: A Commentary and Study Guide on the Directory for Family Worship, pp. 50-51:

Do your devotional habits change when you are travelling or on holiday? It is not uncommon for families to set aside their regular patters or routines when they are outside of their ordinary surroundings. But why should this be? Does the Lord deserve less honour when business or recreation call us away from our homes? Do we have less need of His daily provision of grace? Do His commandments include a proviso that they cease to apply to our lives when we are away from our dwellings? The authors of the Directory saw the need to admonish families who found themselves "abroad upon their particular vocations, or any necessary occasions" not to neglect their spiritual duties. It is hypocrisy to desire the Lord's blessing upon our travels and activities, while ignoring Him and neglecting His worship until we return home.

The primary focus of this section of the Directory is upon the providential meeting of several Christian families who happen to be in the same place while travelling away from home. The principles governing the conduct of such families are somewhat different from those given previously. The unexpected nature of a chance meeting of Christian families under such circumstances put their joining together for worship in a different light than if they had set out to form a clique within the bounds of their home church. They should, therefore, thank God for His provision upon their journey and purpose to unite for prayer and thanksgiving, under the leadership of whomever is judged fittest by the whole company. Yet they should take care that their conversations are designed to edify and administer grace to one another.

Whether at home or abroad, public worship and the privileges of private and family devotions will be the first concern and the most fervent desire of those who truly walk with God. They will count nothing more grievous than to be separated from the fellowship of the saints by necessary travels. They will desire to teach their children that the Lord never ceases to watch over His saints, and the saints never cease to depend upon or delight in His daily blessings. Children who are raised in a home where family worship is thus loved and consistently maintained will carry the legacy of household devotion with them when they are blessed with families of their own. They will cherish the gathering together of God's people and they will seek out godly preachers to instruct and encourage them in their faith. "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).

Mark What Dying Men Say

Edward Young, The Complaint; or, Night Thoughts (Night the Second, On Time, Death, and Friendship 48-55):

Youth is not rich in time, it may be poor;
Part with it as with money, sparing; pay
No moment, but in purchase of its worth;
And what its worth, ask death-beds; they can tell.
Part with it as with life, reluctant; big
With holy hope of nobler time to come;
Time higher aim’d, still nearer the great mark
Of men and angels; virtue more divine.

Richard Baxter understood that all men are dying, from the moment of our birth. He wrote:

I Preach'd, as never sure to Preach again,
And as a dying man to dying Men!

In a separate work, Of Redemption of Time (The Practical Works of Richard Baxter, Vol. 4, p. 1041), he offers this consideration concerning the preciousness of spending well the time that is given to us:

Quest. 7. Do you mark what dying men say of time, and how they value it (unless they be blocks that are past feeling)? How ordinarily do good and bad then wish that they had spent time better, and cry out, Oh that it were to spend again! Then they are promising, Oh if it were to do again, we would spend that time in heavenly lives and fruitful obedience, which we spent in curiosity, idleness, and superfluous, sensual delights. Then they cry, Oh that God would renew our time, and once more try us how we will spend it! Alas! sirs, why should wise men so much differ in health and sickness? Why should that time be vilified now, which will seem so precious then?

Claudius Salmasius on his deathbed:

O, I have lost a world of time—time, the most precious thing in the world; whereof had I but one year more, it should be spent in David's Psalms and Paul's epistles. O sirs, mind the world less, and God more.

Queen Elizabeth I on her deathbed:

All my possessions for a moment of time.

James Hamilton, The Royal Preacher: Lectures on Ecclesiastes, p. 79:

Alas! For the knowledge which knows no Savior. Alas! for the science which includes no Gospel. The most erudite of lawyers was [John] Selden. Some days before his death he sent for Archbishop [James] Ussher, and said, “I have surveyed most of the learning that is among the sons of men, and my study is filled with books and manuscripts on various subjects, yet at this moment I can recollect nothing in them all on which I an rest my soul, save one from the sacred Scriptures, which lies much on my spirit. It is this: “The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Savior Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good work!”

Time is Precious

John Flavel, "An Exhortation to Redeem the Time with the Utmost Diligence" in Pneumatologia: A Treatise of the Soul of Man, in Works, Vol. 3, p. 483:

Time is deservedly reckoned among the most precious mercies of this life; and that which makes it so valuable are the commodious seasons and opportunities for salvation which are vouchsafed to us therein: opportunity is the golden spot of time, the sweet and beautiful flower, growing upon the stalk of time. If time be a ring of gold, opportunity is the rich diamond that gives it both its value and glory.

Willem Teellinck, Redeeming the Time (Preface):

Men say there is nothing more valuable than time, and they speak the truth; for their life, which is their most valuable possession, is none other than a bundle of hours, days, weeks and so on; but many have scarcely spoken thus before they dispose of their time as if it were useless rubbish by the basketful: what folly! Look -- in time there is a certain fatness and marrow which is excellently valuable and delicious: and the vigour of our life is therefore lengthened out to us by God, that we may fetch good out of it and our souls thrive in fatness. We sadly deceive ourselves, if think that one hour of our life is lengthened out to us by God other than for the furtherance of His glory and the salvation of our souls.

So it is well for us to consider each hour of life permitted to us as a special gift, bestowed upon us in mercy by the great God for our profit; and just as certainly we merit eternal misery for each hour of our life ill-spent or lived unprofitably, were the Lord to deal with us as we deserve. And, the deep consideration of what we owe to God and Christ in His service, and how shamefully neglectful we have been hitherto, should cause us in justice to redeem our time with all diligence. The more so, seeing that our life is not only very short but also very uncertain; wherefore we should rightly view each day which dawns upon us as that which could be the last day of our lives, and on that account never dare to put off for one hour the discharging of our conscience before God. (Heb. 3.7; Psa. 119.60).

Jonathan Edwards, The Preciousness of Time, and the Importance of Redeeming It:

Time is precious for the following reasons:

First, because a happy or miserable eternity depends on the good or ill improvement of it. Things are precious in proportion to their importance, or to the degree wherein they concern our welfare. Men are wont to set the highest value on those things upon which they are sensible their interest chiefly depends. And this renders time so exceedingly precious, because our eternal welfare depends on the improvement of it. — Indeed our welfare in this world depends upon its improvement. If we improve it not, we shall be in danger of coming to poverty and disgrace; but by a good improvement of it, we may obtain those things which will be useful and comfortable. But it is above all things precious, as our state through eternity depends upon it. The importance of the improvement of time upon other accounts, is in subordination to this.

Gold and silver are esteemed precious by men; but they are of no worth to any man, only as thereby he has an opportunity of avoiding or removing some evil, or of possessing himself of some good. And the greater the evil is which any man hath advantage to escape, or the good which he hath advantage to obtain, by anything that he possesses, by so much the greater is the value of that thing to him, whatever it be. Thus if a man, by anything which he hath, may save his life, which he must lose without it, he will look upon that by which he hath the opportunity of escaping so great an evil as death, to be very precious. — Hence it is that time is so exceedingly precious, because by it we have opportunity of escaping everlasting misery, and of obtaining everlasting blessedness and glory. On this depends our escape from an infinite evil, and our attainment of an infinite good.

Second, time is very short, which is another thing that renders it very precious. The scarcity of any commodity occasions men to set a higher value upon it, especially if it be necessary and they cannot do without it. Thus when Samaria was besieged by the Syrians, and provisions were exceedingly scarce, “an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver.” 2 Kin. 6:25. — So time is the more to be prized by men, because a whole eternity depends upon it; and yet we have but a little of time. “When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.” Job 16:22. “My days are swifter than a post. They are passed away as the swift ships; as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.” Job 9:25, 26. “Our life; what is it? It is but a vapour which appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” Jam. 4:14. It is but as a moment to eternity. Time is so short, and the work which we have to do in it is so great, that we have none of it to spare. The work which we have to do to prepare for eternity, must be done in time, or it never can be done; and it is found to be a work of great difficulty and labor, and therefore that for which time is the more requisite.

Third, time ought to be esteemed by us very precious, because we are uncertain of its continuance. We know that it is very short, but we know not how short. We know not how little of it remains, whether a year, or several years, or only a month, a week, or a day. We are every day uncertain whether that day will not be the last, or whether we are to have the whole day. There is nothing that experience doth more verify than this. — If a man had but little provision laid up for a journey or a voyage, and at the same time knew that if his provision should fail, he must perish by the way, he would be the more choice of it. — How much more would many men prize their time, if they knew that they had but a few months, or a few days, more to live! And certainly a wise man will prize his time the more, as he knows not but that it will be so as to himself. This is the case with multitudes now in the world, who at present enjoy health, and see no signs of approaching death. Many such, no doubt, are to die the next month, many the next week, yea, many probably tomorrow, and some this night. Yet these same persons know nothing of it, and perhaps think nothing of it, and neither they nor their neighbors can say that they are more likely soon to be taken out of the world than others. This teaches us how we ought to prize our time, and how careful we ought to be, that we lose none of it.

Fourth, time is very precious, because when it is past, it cannot be recovered. There are many things which men possess, which if they part with, they can obtain them again. If a man have parted with something which he had, not knowing the worth of it, or the need he should have of it; he often can regain it, at least with pains and cost. If a man have been overseen in a bargain, and have bartered away or sold something, and afterwards repents of it, he may often obtain a release, and recover what he had parted with. — But it is not so with respect to time. When once that is gone, it is gone forever; no pains, no cost will recover it. Though we repent ever so much that we let it pass, and did not improve it while we had it, it will be to no purpose. Every part of it is successively offered to us, that we may choose whether we will make it our own, or not. But there is no delay. It will not wait upon us to see whether or no we will comply with the offer. But if we refuse, it is immediately taken away, and never offered more. As to that part of time which is gone, however we have neglected to improve it, it is out of our possession and out of our reach.

If we have lived fifty, or sixty, or seventy years, and have not improved our time, now it cannot be helped. It is eternally gone from us. All that we can do, is to improve the little that remains. Yea, if a man have spent all his life but a few moments unimproved, all that is gone is lost, and only those few remaining moments can possibly be made his own. And if the whole of a man’s time be gone, and it be all lost, it is irrecoverable. — Eternity depends on the improvement of time. But when once the time of life is gone, when once death is come, we have no more to do with time; there is no possibility of obtaining the restoration of it, or another space in which to prepare for eternity. If a man should lose the whole of his worldly substance, and become a bankrupt, it is possible that his loss may be made up. He may have another estate as good. But when the time of life is gone, it is impossible that we should ever obtain another such time. All opportunity of obtaining eternal welfare is utterly and everlastingly gone.

Archibald Alexander, Thoughts on Religious Experience, pp. 367-369:

XVII. My next counsel is, that you set a high value upon your time. Time is short; and its flight is rapid. The swiftness of the lapse of time is proverbial in all languages. In Scripture, the life of man is compared to a multitude of things which quickly pass away, after making their appearance; as to a post, a weaver's shuttle, a vapour, a shadow, &c. All the works of man must be performed in time; and whatever acquisition is made of any good, it must be obtained in time. Time, therefore, is not only short, but precious. Every thing is suspended on its improvement, and it can only be improved when present; and it is no sooner present, than it is gone: so that whatever we do must be done quickly. The precious gift is sparingly parcelled out, by moments, but the succession of these is rapid and uninterrupted. Nothing can impede or retard the current of this stream. Whether we are awake or asleep, whether occupied or idle, whether we attend to the fact or not, we are borne along by a silent, but irresistible force. Our progressive motion in time, may be compared to the motion of the planet on which we dwell, of which we are entirely insensible; or, to that of a swift-sailing ship, which produces the illusion that all other objects are in motion, while we seem to be stationary. So in the journey of life, we pass from stage to stage, from infancy to childhood, from childhood to youth, from youth to mature age, and finally, ere we are aware of it, we find ourselves declining towards the last stage of earthly existence. The freshness and buoyancy of youth soon pass away: the autumn of life, with its "sere leaf," soon arrives; and next, and last, if disease or accident do not cut short our days, old age with its gray hairs, its wrinkles, its debility and pains, comes on apace. This period is described by the wise man, as one in which men are commonly disposed to be querulous, and to acknowledge that the days draw nigh in which they have no pleasure. "The keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows are darkened. When men rise up at the noise of the bird -- when all the daughters of music are brought low, and there shall be fears. And the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper be a burden."

Time wasted can never be recovered. No man ever possessed the same moment twice. We are, indeed, exhorted "to redeem our time," but this relates to a right improvement of that which is to come; for this is the only possible way by which we can redeem what is irrevocably past. The counsels which I would offer to the young on this subject are: Think frequently and seriously on the inestimable value of time. Never forget that all that is dear and worthy of pursuit must be accomplished in the short span of time allotted to us here. Meditate also profoundly, and often, on the celerity of the flight of time. Now you are in the midst of youthful bloom, but soon this season will only exist in the dim shades of recollection, and unless it has been well improved, of bitter regret.

If you will make a wise improvement of your time, you must be prompt. Seize the fugitive moments as they fly; for, otherwise, they will pass away before you have commenced the work which is appropriated to them.

Diligence and constancy are essential to the right improvement of time. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." "Work while it is called to-day." Walk while you have the light; for the dark night rapidly approaches, when no work can be done.

Let every thing be done in its season. There is a time for all things; and let all things be done in order. The true order of things may be determined by their relative importance, and by the urgency of the case, or the loss which would probably be sustained by neglect.

If you would make the most of your time, learn to do one thing at once, and endeavour so to perform every work, as to accomplish it in the best possible manner. As you receive but one moment at once, it is a vain thing to think of doing more than one thing at one time; and if any work deserves your attention at all, it deserves to be well done. Confusion, hurry, and heedlessness, often so mar a business, that it would have been better to omit it altogether.

Beware of devolving the duty of to-day on to-morrow. This is called procrastination, which is said, justly, to be "the thief of time." Remember, that every day, and every hour, has its own appropriate work; but if that which should be done this day, is deferred until a future time, to say the least, there must be an inconvenient accumulation of duties in future. But as to-morrow is to every body uncertain, to suspend the acquisition of an important object on such a contingency, may be the occasion of losing forever the opportunity of receiving it. The rule of sound discretion is, never to put off till to-morrow, what ought to be done to-day.

Our Time is Not Our Own

John Calvin, Sermon on Gen. 2.1-6, preached on September 19, 1559, in John Calvin, Sermons on Genesis, p. 127:

We are not to spend a single minute without considering [God].

Switzerland is known, among other things, for its watches, but how did it come to be so? When the Reformation came to Switzerland, jewelers and goldsmiths, who had previously devoted their labors to the creation of idols in the service of the Roman Catholic Church found themselves prohibited from making instruments of idolatry as well as "useless [ostentatious] jewelry." Faced with the need to find new opportunities to practice their craft, watchmaking became Geneva's specialty. As Huguenot artisans emigrated to this city of refuge, Geneva built its reputation over the following centuries as the center of the time-keeping world, Greenwich mean time notwithstanding.

Max Engammare, General Director of Librarie Droz, puts forward a thesis in his 2004 book L'ordre du temps: L'invention de la ponctualité au XVIe siècle (translated by Karin Maag in 2009 under the title On Time, Punctuality, and Discipline in Early Modern Calvinism) that we owe much of the modern concept of punctuality or "being on time" as a virtue and indeed an ethical obligation to both to the rise of Genevan watchmaking and the spiritual regulation of time as a limited commodity to be measured and spent wisely. This thesis is also discussed in a May 20, 2009 Haute Horlogerie magazine article: "How Calvin invented punctuality, 500 years ago."

As time-pieces proliferated, church and society became increasingly conscious of the flow of time and the importance of redeeming it rather than wasting it in idleness (Eph. 5.16). The use of hourglasses to monitor the length of sermons, fines issued for tardiness relating to church attendance, the conversion of ecclesiastical calendars from liturgical festival days (cyclical) to historical (linear) non-liturgical commemorations, the recording and accounting of time spent in personal diaries and journals -- each of these represent applications of the principle that the measuring and profitable use of time is a virtue.

Engamarre examines the writings of Calvin, and other literature, including Huguenot calendars, to articulate this thesis. He does not attribute to technology the spiritual value put upon time in Calvin's Geneva, but rather notes that the convergence of technological and spiritual reckoning of time has bequeathed to our age the virtue of punctuality in a way not found previously in history. If the increased consciousness of time and precision in its measurement can be put to good use in tracking how we spend it and by inculcating a sense of accountability to God the giver of time, it is also true that perhaps never in human history has man experienced such stress as the pressures upon our personal time management. We often exclaim that we need more hours in the day to satisfy all of the demands upon our time. The reckoning of time is, perhaps, a two-edged sword.

Engamarre's book highlights Calvin's own personal time management and the encroachments upon his own schedule by messengers who waited upon him while he was forced write quickly to dispatch letters. While reading this, I was reminded of Pascal's famous saying, "I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time" (Provincial Letters: Letter XVI). Or the famous saying attributed to Martin Luther: "I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer." Men have always struggled with being busy or the temptation to be lazy. Though clocks and the electric light bulb have impacted the schedules of modern man in ways that the ancients could have not have imagined, yet the responsibility for improving upon the time given to us remains, and technology cannot be blamed if we fail to live each moment for God.

The Fourth Commandment still binds us to work six days and find our spiritual rest in worshiping God on his holy day. The Sixth Commandment still binds to the moderate use of sleep, recreation and labor. We may glorify God by resting our bodies as well as by working. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:" (Eccl. 3.1). Or, in Engamarre's words: "A moment for everything and something for every moment."

To return to first principles concerning time, we ought to heed the prayer of Moses, "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom" (Ps. 90.12), as well as the admonition of the Apostle to be "wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (Eph. 5.15-16). With such wisdom may we reckon our time as a precious gift, not to be wasted, of which we are stewards who must give account to our heavenly Master. The watch is not our master, but a means to an end that we may reckon each moment and spend it to God's glory.

Time Redeemed

The Scriptures teach that life is a gift whose days are measured and numbered.

Psalm 90

10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

On Queen Elizabeth I's deathbed, her last words were said to be, "All my possessions for a moment of time." But Benjamin Disraeli rightly noted in a speech on September 21, 1865, that "Time is precious, but truth is more precious than time." It is not merely time that is precious, but above all, time redeemed, which is most precious.

Psalm 90

12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Make the prayer of Moses your prayer then, and likewise, the prayer of Richard Baxter: "Time is precious; Lord give me skill and wisdom to redeem it" (Baxter, MSS (Letters), vol. v, f. 28b, quoted by Gerald R. Cragg, Puritanism in the Period of the Great Persecution, 1660-1688, p. 135).

Willem Teellinck on Time Management

Willem Teellinck, Sleutel Der Devotie Ons openende De Deure des Hemels (The Key of True Devotion Opens Heaven's Door), I.4.18, 395:

Worship God four hours a day,
Let three for food come into play,
Sleep seven more, less if you can,
Give eight others to the work of man,
And two to help the mind to understand.
If you, this way, your time so use,
You'll find your soul has none to lose!

Willem Teellinck, The Path of True Godliness, pp. 175-178:

If a Christian desires to practice true godliness faithfully and attain his real purpose in life, he should use the means referred to in a disciplined way. It is necessary for him to observe a good, established, firm, and regular rule of life. He must not live carelessly and haphazardly but follow this standard (Gal. 6:16). God's blessings are promised only to those who order their lives well (Ps. 50:23). Surely, it is easy to understand how fundamental this is because, as we have learned, the life of godliness involves many things of immense importance.

We all know that anyone who has important business matters that are crucial to him and demand detailed attention will have to go about his business in an orderly manner and act wisely, or he can expect little success. Can you imagine the executive of a large organization having no strategy but working haphazardly and without order? Can you imagine him starting one thing, then dropping it and flitting from one task to another without ever considering why he abandoned the task at hand? Can you imagine his failing to consider what he had achieved or to review and analyze his plan to determine its progress? Suppose he approached each task carelessly, without any objective, working one day on one project and another day on whatever might happen to turn up? Every competent businessman knows well that this man's business would soon be in shambles, and his money would rapidly disappear.

We find exactly the same thing with the daily practice of the godly life. It is impossible to live a godly life unless we begin and continue this life with direction and in a disciplined way. If we live casually, taking days as they come, paying no attention to rules or order, we will deceive ourselves, and, of course, we will inevitably fail. We will inevitably neglect something important here and forget something essential there, causing untold harm to true godliness. If we look at the reasons why many Christians who are sincere and highly value the godly life fail so badly among believers, make so little progress in holiness, and are so pitifully negligent -- or at least profit so little and grow so little in the practice of godliness -- we will discover that they lack a disciplined lifestyle. They live haphazardly and deal with whatever turns up and whatever suits them; thus, they forget and neglect many things that pertain to godliness. They become confused and entangle themselves in many things that cause untold harm to true godliness. Clearly, they could have prevented this if they had followed a well-regulated and ordered life. We ought to pay close attention to this.

A good, established, firm, and regular rule of life consists of three specific practices:

* establishing fixed times and hours for all our duties
* assigning priorities, or first doing those things that are most important and essential
* making it a daily practice to examine how we have conducted ourselves and how it is with our hearts

We will discuss each point, starting in this section with the first one.

Allocate Certain Times Each Day to Accomplish Our Duties

In order to lead a disciplined life, it is necessary to set aside specific times for those things that we know for certain need our attention. This will enable us to start our daily work in an orderly fashion and work at it diligently so that we will be able to accomplish these things well. We should pay close attention to our priorities at the start of the day, during the course of the day, and at the end of the day, giving all essential daily tasks their allocated time or hour. For example, Scripture tells us that it was the practice of David (Ps. 55:17) and Daniel (Dan. 6:10) to pray three times a day. Here are some of the priorities we should set.

1. Time for prayer and devotions. We should set aside a certain time at the beginning of each day to call upon the name of the Lord and to read God's Word, both personally and with the family. The head of the family may choose a time that suits him and his family best. He should see that this time is strictly adhered to but with some flexibility, should circumstances demand it, to prevent it from becoming a mere ritual or superstitious observance. These set hours and times ought to be chosen as an aid, not an obstacle, to faith. If circumstances offer a justifiable reason not to follow our usual practice, then we should willingly change the time with the understanding that our regular hours remain the norm. We simply have to make sure that by changing the order, the rule is not overlooked. If possible, we should make arrangements for an hour that better suits our circumstances.

2. Regular times for daily activities. We should then plan our days, assigning the most suitable and convenient times and hours for each daily task. For example, on workdays we should have a specific time to perform each of the ordinary duties of our occupation. We should set aside times to relax and enjoy ourselves and to have our meals. Then, too, it is a great blessing for us to set aside some free time to perform works of charity and frienship -- as much as we can and not only on the Lord's Day but also on other days. These acts including visiting, comforting, and helping others as the opportunities arise. Doing these things is virtuous not only on the Lord's Day but also during the entire week.

3. Ending the day with the Lord. We should set aside time at the end of the day for devotions with God, to personally read God's Word and to pray with our families. We should set aside as much time for this as we can without tiring ourselves. It would also be good for us to spend some time examining our conduct during the day that has just ended.

In short, our first priority is to follow certain sound and established rules in life that will enable us to lead a truly godly life. We really cannot express how much serenity, assurance, blessing, and comfort this will give to those who routinely observe this.