The most comfortable and joyful of all things

Here's Jonathan Edwards' conclusion -

I am now come to the next point, which is to show that the exercise of virtue and religion makes youth the more pleasant in all the circumstances and concerns in it. Herein greatly has the advantage over a course of youthful vanity, for the pleasures of that are exceedingly unsteady and inconstant; they serve them only for a moment.

Here particularly, young people's exercise of religion would sweeten both their company and their solitude. It would sweeten their company in that it would render it more pleasant. There is nothing got by extravagance and lewdness in company. Company is not the more pleasant for it; vain and vicious mirth does company no good; it neither adorns it nor enlivens it. How needless and to no purpose it is. Ecclesiastes 2:2: "I said of laughter, it is mad, and of mirth, what doeth it?" Young people do the devil all that service gratis; they get nothing by it for the present; they undo themselves without so much as getting any pleasure by it presently.

It would be abundantly sweeter if they were virtuous in company; it would be more rational, more becoming reasonable creatures. Their own reason would approve of it; they would be glad when they reflected and thought on it. Everyone's mind would approve of it.

It is a strange notion that many young people have that company will be the worse for being virtuous. Vice is the most useless thing in the world. In company it does no good in any way. They may have free conversation without it; and virtue would sweeten all that is said and done. It would make all the more pleasant company one to another; it would supply them with the most pleasant and entertaining subjects of conversation.

The exercise of this would also sweeten solitude and retirement. Oftentimes those who live viciously and appear very merry in company are afraid of solitude; they don't love to be much in retirement for they have nothing to entertain them. And when they are alone, reason and conscience are apt to be in exercise, which greatly disturbs their peace. But those young people who walk in the ways of religion and virtue have wherein to rejoice and entertain their minds both alone and in company. 'Tis pleasant to them oftentimes to be alone, for then they have the better opportunity to fix their minds on divine objects, to withdraw their minds from worldly things, and the more uninterruptedly to delight themselves in divine contemplations and holy exercise and converse with God.

Christ sometimes calls forth such young persons from the company and noise of the world in such language as that found in Song of Soloman 7:11-12: "Come, my beloved....."

It sweetens both business and diversion. To walk in the ways of piety and Christianity is the way to have the sensible presence of God, the light of His countenance, and the testimony of His favor, which is enough to sweeten everything to them. If a person has good evidence that his sins are forgiven, that he is at peace with God, is the object of God's love, and has within him the quietness and cheerfulness wherever he is and whatever he is about. 'Tis enough to make hard labor easy, and he may well do whatsoever he does cheerfuly who does it to the Lord and not to man (Ephesians 6:7)

The exercise of religion would even sweeten young people's diversions as it would regulate them according to the rules of religion and virtue, and would direct them to suitable and worthy ends and make them subservient to excellent purposes. What has been already said of earthly enjoyments and company is true of diversions, that they are abundantly sweetest when virtue moderates and guides them.

It sweetens what is present, and also the thoughts of what is to come. When young people spend their youth in sin and vanity, it gives them no pleasure but in what is present; it has a tendancy to make the prospect of that which is future uncomfortable and terrible. And therefore such young people are not wont to think much of what is future; such thoughts are very disagreeable to them, so that they do what they can to shut them out of their minds. But when young people walk in the ways of virtue and Christianity it not only gives them abundantly the most pleasant enjoyment of the present time, but renders the prospect of what is to come exceedingly comfortable and joyful.

They who spend their youth in the exercise of true religon may think of old age with comfort. If they should live to it, they may have reasonable comfort in all the changes of it, and have just cause to think of death with comfort. Such persons may think of eternity with unspeekable joy. We are born for an eternal duration; those who are young now have had their beings but a little while, and they will have those beings to all eternity. Religon will give rational comfort and joy; let them look as far forward as they will in this endless duration. And those things which are most terrible to wicked young people, that is, death, judgement, and eternity, may well be and often are the most comfortable and joyful of all things to them.

(To the Rising Generation, pp. 49-51)