Gibson, on fleeing temptation.

I know, I blogged just last night. And yet, I find myself here again, for the sole reason of posting another excerpt.
I really enjoyed today's words from my puritan devotional (Voices from the Past), so I decided to post parts of it.

"Lay aside... sin which clings so closely."

--Hebrews 12:1

At times temptation presses in with violent demands. To combat the power and force of these, we must prepare out hearts with strong antidotes beforehand. Fix your heart upon your true treasure, your fellowship with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. Flee to God to hide you. Here the tempter cannot reach you. Be much in communion with God, and the devil will have little communication with you. If he does try, he will have little effect. The soul is secure under the deep, warm, and constant sense of God's being your all in all. What powerful ammunition this is against the assaults and incursions of the tempter. Take up your wings, O Christian, and fly away that you may be at rest (Isa 40:31). When the soul has taken its flights, O how easily does it soar above the smoke and dust of fleshly lusts! Rusty spots on cold metal disappear when it is heated and burns red hot. Get your heart on fire and you will be Elijah-like in a flaming chariot of holy longings after God. Love your dear Master, and you will not find a love for sin. Consider also that things morally good or evil are not so just because one is commanded and the other forbidden, but it is what they are essentially and unalterably. They are fixed in their natures. Bathe your soul with the everlasting beauty of holiness, and the horror and ugliness of all iniquity.... Watch how the tempter has taken advantage of you in the past. Make these searches daily and compare them to the eternal law of God. These considerations will greatly help in the prevention and cure for the sins which so easily best us.

--John Gibson, Puritan Sermons 1659-1689, I:92-96