pithy gems from the Puritan George Swinnock. The world is a great inn where we are to stay a night, not a home where we are to dwell forever. He who would not fall into the river of wickedness must not come near the river's edge. The more a man knows God, the more he abhors himself. A little faith will take the soul to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to the soul. Sin is sweet in the mouth, but bitter in the belly. Earthly comforts are sweet like honey, but if we feed on them immoderately, they will make us sick. A holy heart is the garden where the flowers of grace grow.

The wicked man's prosperity is but a golden chain to bind him to eternal misery. Time is a most precious commodity. Eternity depends on how it is spent. The devil tempts us that he may ruin us. God tries us that he may crown us. A holy heart is always a humble heart. A little sin will damn a soul if it is not pardoned. Christ is the only remedy for a sin-sick soul. Only the soul that sees the ugliness of his sin will see the beauty of the Savior. The Christian must look upon himself as a pilgrim and the world as his road, not his rest. Sin may please for a moment, but it will pain for an eternity.

Prayer is the key that opens the treasure house of divine mercy. A holy heart prefers Christ's cross to the world's crown. If you would not be condemned with the world, then you must not be conformed to the world. The more we meditate on heaven, the less we shall love earth.