Union With Christ

O FATHER,

Thou hast made man for the glory of thyself,
      and when not an instrument of that glory,
      he is a thing of nought;
No sin is greater than the sin of unbelief,
  for if union with Christ is the greatest good,
  unbelief is the greatest sin,
  as being cross to thy command;
I see that whatever my sin is,
  yet no sin is like disunion from Christ by unbelief.
Lord, keep me from committing the greatest sin
    in departing from him,
  for I can never in this life perfectly obey
    and cleave to Christ.
When thou takest away my outward blessings,
    it is for sin,
  in not acknowledging that all that I have is of thee,
  in not serving thee through what I have,
  in making myself secure and hardened.
Lawful blessings are the secret idols, and
    do most hurt;
  the greatest injury is in the having,
  the greatest good in the taking away.
In love divest me of blessings that I may glorify
    thee the more;
  remove the fuel of my sin,
  and may I prize the gain of a little holiness
  as overbalancing all my losses.
The more I love thee with a truly gracious love
  the more I desire to love thee,
  and the more miserable I am at my want of love;
The more I hunger and thirst after thee,
  the more I faint and fail in finding thee,
The more my heart is broken for sin,
  the more I pray it may be far more broken.


My great evil is that I do not remember
    the sins of my youth,
  nay, the sins of one day I forget the next.
Keep me from all things that turn to unbelief
  or lack of felt union with Christ.

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