Note 278 — PART VII.

He is a good christian, that remotely and ultimately referreth all the creatures unto God, and eateth, and drinketh, &c. more to fit him for God's service, than to please the flesh. But it is much more than this which the creature was appointed for; even for a present communication of the sense of the goodness of God unto the heart. As the musician that toucheth but the keys of his harpsichord or organ, causeth that sweet, harmonious sound, which we hear from the strings that are touched within; so God ordained the order, beauty, sweetness, &c. of the creature, to touch the sense with such a pleasure, as should suddenly touch the inward sense with an answerable delight in God, who is the giver of the life of every creature. But, alas! where is the christian that doth thus eat and drink, and thus take pleasure in all his mercies? When contrarily our hearts are commonly so diverted from God by the creature, that so much delight as we find in it, so much we lose of our delight in God, yea, of our regard and remembrance of him.