Wisely contrive, the day before, that you may have no unnecessary work to employ your hands or heads on God’s day. Think seriously “what a weighty business I am going about! My worldly affairs are but trifles to this. What are shops, ships, or farms to Christ, grace, or heaven?”

Prepare for this holy day. Think to yourself, “What good did I get from any former Sabbath, and particularly from the last?” Pray that the Sabbath before you may be the best you ever kept; that your heart may be more humble, tender, and heavenly, and that this may be an earnest to you of keeping an eternal Sabbath with God in glory. Particularly beg, “O God of grace, prepare a suitable word for my soul! Let the minister’s mouth be opened, his heart enlarged, and his message be according to Thy holy will! Enter Thou into Thy temple, and crown Thy ordinances with Thy presence and blessing. Give me, Lord, the hearing ear, the seeing eye, and the understanding heart, that I may receive with meekness the engrafted Word!”

As soon as you awake in the morning of this sacred day, direct your heart and eyes heavenward. Bless God that you see the light of another Sabbath, in which your soul may be furnished with grace and be fitted for glory. Call upon the Lord to pardon your defective preparations, bear with your infirmities, accept your poor services, and enrich you with His graces and consolations.

Proceed to solemn meditations until your heart is affected by considering such a subject as the majesty of the God you are to wait upon, the vileness of sin and yourself by reason of sin, the excellencies of Christ and the greatness of His love, the heavenly nature of divine worship and the gain of godliness, the vanity of the world, the worth of your immortal soul, the rage and policy of your spiritual enemies, the deceitfulness of your own heart, the torments of hell, or the joys of heaven.

Carefully and conscientiously perform the religious duties of your family as well as your closet. See that your children waste not this morning in sleep or idleness. Call them to join with you in reading, singing, and prayer. Inform them of the glorious Master you serve, the immediate blessedness of such service, and the abundant reward attending it, even life everlasting. Charge them to be constant and serious in personal, family, and public worship.

In going to the house of God, if you are alone, think, “O that God would meet all His worshippers, and bless my soul!” If you are in company, talk of God and His Word without pride or affectation; hearken to the heavenly discourse of others.

As you enter the house of God, lift up your heart to Him in such breathings as these: “Lord, Thou hast promised to be in the midst of Thy people. O let Thy goodness pass before us! Let us see Thy power and Thy glory in Thy sanctuary. Let Thy greatness awe us and Thy goodness delight and refresh us!”

In the house of God, make a covenant with your eyes and take heed of a wandering heart. Fix your eyes on the minister, your ears on the Word, and your heart on God.

Be spiritual in every part of the service. While the min­ister is confessing sin, let your heart melt and even bleed and break. When he begs for mercy, let your whole soul pant after it. When he offers praise, let all that is within you bless God’s holy name. In singing, let your heart make melody to the Lord so that when your voice is high, your heart may be not low and dead. When the Word is read or preached, seriously recollect, “This is the Word of God. It is His command, and dare I disobey it? Does He threaten these judgments and denounce these curses on sinners, and must not I tremble? Are those His calls and invitations, His great and precious promises, and shall I refuse them? Ye everlast­ing doors of my heart, fly open, and the King of glory shall come in!” While the minister pronounces the blessing, haste not away (a fault too common), but hope, desire, and believe it shall come down upon you with a divine efficacy.

When you come from the house of God, take heed lest Satan catch away the seed that is sown or the thorny cares of the world choke it. Let not vain discourse proceed from your lips as soon as God’s Word is out of the minister’s mouth, but beg of God that the Word you have heard may not be as water spilt upon the ground; pray that your memory may retain it, your heart love it, and your will obey it.

Think not half a day is enough for God and your soul. If you come before the service begins, spend the interval in devout meditation or in religious discourse. It is lamentable to see a churchyard filled with idle persons, talking of their worldly affairs or anything rather than their souls.

Take heed how you spend the evening. Cherish good impressions and conclude by worshipping God in your fam­ily and closet.

Before you lie down to rest at night, review the whole work of the day.