The Awake Christian Is Prepared

Consider the excellence of an awake Christian. When he is in his right temper, he is a prepared person, fit for all assaults. He is impregnable. Satan has nothing to do with him, for he, as it is said, is then a wise man, and 'has his eyes in his head' (Eccles. 2:14). He knows himself, his standing, his enemies, the snares of prosperity and adversity, and of all conditions. He, being awake, is not overcome by the evil of any condition, and is ready for the good of any state. He that has a wakeful soul, he sees all the advantages of good, and all the snares that might draw him to ill (Mark 13:37). What a blessed state this is! In all things watch, in all conditions, in all times, and in all actions. There is a danger in everything without watchfulness. There is a scorpion under every stone, a snare under every blessing of God, and in every condition, which Satan uses as a weapon to hurt us; adversity to discourage us, or prosperity to puff us up. If a Christian has not a waking soul, Satan has him in his snare, in prosperity to be proud and secure; in adversity to murmur, to complain, and to be dejected and call God's providence into question. When a Christian has a heart and grace to be awake, then his love, his patience, his faith is awake, as it should be. He is fit for all conditions, to do good in them, and to take good by them. Let us labour to preserve watchful and waking hearts continually, so that we may be fit to live, to die, and to appear before the judgment seat of God; to do what we should do, being prepared for all.

Devotional Readings taken from Puritan Richard Sibbes 'Refreshment for the Soul.'
The Love of Christ (Bowels Opened), p. 92 [91-92]
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