"Why we must draw near to God. "Because He is our maker: 'In Him we live.' He has given us bodies; they are His curious 'needlework,' (Psa. 139:15). And as He has made the cabinet, so He has put the jewel in it, the precious soul; and surely if we have our being from Him, we cannot breathe without Him. There is good reason we should draw near to God in a way of homage and observance.
"God is our benefactor; He crowns us with a variety of blessings: He gives health and estate; every bite of bread we eat is reached to us by the hand of Divine bounty. Is there not great reason we should draw near to Him who feeds us? Give a beast hay and he will follow you all the field over. Not to draw near to Him who is our benefactor, is worse than brutish.
"God is the 'summum bonum,' the chief good. There's enough in God to satisfy the immense desire of the angels. He is 'omnimode dulcis,' the
quintessence of sweetness. In Him perfections are centered. He has rivers of pleasure where the soul shall bathe itself forever with infin-
ite delight, (Psa. 36:8). So that here is ground sufficient for our drawing near to God; He is the chief good. Everything desires to ap-
proach to its happiness."
