[1] Make up your spiritual accounts daily; see how matters
stand between God and your souls (Ps. lxxvii. 6). Often
reckonings keep God and conscience friends. Do with your
heart as you do with your watch--wind it up every morning
by prayer, and at night examine whether it has gone true
all that day, whether the wheels of your affections have
moved swiftly toward heaven. Oh call yourself often to
account; keep your reckonings even, and that is the way to
keep your peace.--_Waters,_ 1696.
[2] The end of all arts and sciences is the practice of them.
And as this is to be confessed in all other arts, so it
cannot be denied in divinity and religion, the practice
whereof doth in excellency surmount the knowledge and
theory, as being the main end whereunto it tends. For to
what purpose do men spend their spirits and tire their wits
in discerning the light of truth, if they do not use the
benefit of it to direct them in all their ways? (Ps.
cxix. 59.)--_Downame,_ 1642.