The True Christians T est, Part 2 · Meditation 43
MEDITAT. XLIII. A further Motive to the Love of God.
SEcondly, I conſider, that I am beholden to God, and it is by him that I am able to love any thing; therefore I ought to love him above all things. The bare poſſeſſion of any thing, is not the enjoyment of it: it is not by having, but by loving things, that we enjoy them. If meer poſſeſſion were enough, the Sparrows had enjoy'd the Altar of God as much as David, and the Owls had been as happy in the full Barns of the Goſpel rich M…n, as he himſelf. Light is ſweet, but it is to them that ſee it; and ſo are Meats and Drinks and Perfumes, but it is only to them that can taſte and ſmell. N…buchadnezzar in his diſtraction, when the heart of a Man was taken from him, had no more enjoyment of his Princely treaſures, than a Jack-Daw or a M…pie has of a Thimble or a Bodkin, that they have hoarded up. Beauty is a pretty thing, but if there were no Looking Glaſſes in the World to repreſent it, the Ladies would not be ſo proud of it as they are, nor dote upon themſelves as they do. I durſt appeal to the greateſt Mammoniſt in the World, Whether he would think it worth his care and toyl to covet and ſerape together great Maſſes of Money, if he were ſure he ſhould be depriv'd of the power of taking any pleaſure in it. Certainly if it be Vanity and an Evil Diſeaſe, that a man ſhould have Riches, Wealth, and Honour, and no power to eat thereof, Eccleſ. 6. 2. It muſt needs be worſe to have theſe things, and not be able ſo much as to love them, or eſteem them lovely. The Poets tell a pretty tale of Ap…lle, that having promiſed the Princeſs Caſſandra the Gift of Prophecying, for a Nights Lodging with her; the afterward refuſing, but he not able to fal…ſie his word, he endow'd her with the Spirit of Propheſie indeed, but entail'd this miſchief upon it, that though ſhe Propheſi'd never ſo truly, ſhe could never be believ'd. Suppoſe God ſhould give a man all the conveniences, advantages, and ornaments imaginable, and ſhould annex this onelyonly curſe to them, that he ſhould not be able in any degree, to take any pleaſure in any of them; I wonder who would account this man happy; ſure I am he himſelf would not. Is it not God that gives us thoſe A…ections and that Power, by which we love any thing; ought we not to love him above all things, by whom it is that we love all things It was a reaſonable Expoſtulation of the Prophet, He that hath mad…th Ear, ſhall no he hear? And is it not as reaſonable to ask, He that ha…h made the Ear, ſhall not he be heard. He that hath created the affection of love in us, ſhall not he be lov'd. I had rather never to have been, than not to have been a loving Creature. Having is nothing without enjoying, and there is no enjoying without loving. If a man have never ſo beautiful, ſweet, chaſt, vertuous a Wife, if he cannot love her, it deſtroys all the pleaſure of Relation—Etiam Medio de fonte leporum ſurgit amari aliquid. Now certainly if I be beholden to God onelyonly for all the ple…ſure that I take in my Wife and Children, who hath given me power to love them, it is highly reaſonable that I ſhould love him above them. Tell me, …hou man of pleaſures, Is there any pleaſure in Meats, Sports, in Wine or Woman? That very pleaſure that thou takeſt in them, ought in reaſon to call thee off from the intemperate and unchaſt uſe of them, becauſe it is inconſiſtant with the Love of God, who gives thee the power of ſenſating even thy impure pleaſures. The very Guſto's of the Table, and the Dalliance of the Bed, do Preach the Predominant Love of God. And tell me thou Mammoniſt, doſt thou love to look upon thy Gold and Silver, doſt thou take pleaſure in beholding them with thine eyes? Is it not highly reaſonable thou ſhouldſt love God, who hath enabled thee to love Gold. The power of loving is from God, therefore he ought to be the principal Object of our Love.