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.

                           from The Valley of Vision