On Reading...

"Read, and look up for a blessing, 1 Cor. 3:6,7. Paul may plant, and Apollos may water; but all will be to no purpose, except the Lord give the increase. God must do the deed, when all is done, or else all that is done will do you no good. If you would have this work successful and effectual, you must look off from man, and look up to God, who alone can make it a blessing to you. As, without a blessing from heaven, thy clothes cannot warm thee, nor thy food nourish thee, nor physic cure thee, nor friends comfort thee, so without a blessing from heaven, without the precious breathings and influences of the Spirit, what here is done will do you no good, it will not turn to your account in the day of Christ; and therefore cast an eye heaven-wards. It is Seneca’s observation, that the husbandmen in Egypt never look up to heaven for rain, in the time of drought; but look after the overflowing of the banks of the Nile, as the only cause of their plenty. Ah! how many are there in these days, who, when they go to read a book, never look up, never look after the rain of God’s blessing, but only the river Nile! they only look to the wit, the learning, the arts, the parts, the eloquence, &c. of the author: they never look so high as heaven; and hence it comes to pass, that though these read much, yet they profit little."

From the preface to A mute Christian under the smarting rod; With Sovereign antidotes for every case. A Christian with an olive leaf in his mouth, when under the greatest afflictions, trials, troubles, and darkest providences; with answers to questions and objections, calculated to promote submission and silence under all the changes that may be experienced in this world, by Thomas Brooks.