Advice to a Young Christian

As you are entering into a world wherein a variety of examples, methods of conduct, and maxims in religion will be presented to you, some plausible, some pernicious, and many destructive; if you value your conscience or you comfort, make the sacred word of God, which is to be the rule of your future judgment, the invariable rule of your disposition and practice. You will never find a more faithful counselor, a more advantageous guide, or a more cordial and constant friend, than in those sacred oracles of wisdom and truth, if you closely study and practice them. Let no day, therefore, pass over without some serious perusal of them, joined with humble, earnest prayer to God for wisdom to understand them, and power to conform to them.

Study the inimitable rules of wisdom and prudence in the Proverbs of Solomon, to direct your practice; the Psalms of David, to inspire your devotion; and the whole word of God, especially the New Testament, to form your faith, your hope, and your temper. Particularly, treasure up in your mind some passages relating to each revealed doctrine, each command duty, and each forbidden temper; that your belief may be directed by the wisdom, and your conscience awed by the authority of God, in every season of duty and temptation.

"Bind them continually upon thy heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee; for the commandment is a lamp; and the law is a light; and the reproofs of instruction are the way of life."

Proverbs 6:21-23

(The Publications of the American Tract Society, vol. 4, pp. 70-71)