# An Exhortation to Love God--Thomas Watson



## Presbyterian Deacon (Sep 27, 2008)

From: A Divine Cordial, [part 6]


> An Exhortation to Love God
> 
> 1. An exhortation. Let me earnestly persuade all who bear the name of Christians to become lovers of God. " O love the Lord, all ye his saints " (Psalm xxxi. 23). There are but few that love God: many give Him hypocritical kisses, but few love Him. It is not so easy to love God as most imagine. The affection of love is natural, but the grace is not. Men are by nature haters of God (Rom. i. 30). The wicked would flee from God; they would neither be under His rules, nor within His reach. They fear God, but do not love Him. All the strength in men or angels cannot make the heart love God. Ordinances will not do it of themselves, nor judgments; it is only the almighty and invincible power of the Spirit of God can infuse love into the soul. This being so hard a work, it calls upon us for the more earnest prayer and endeavour after this angelic grace of love. To excite and inflame our desires after it, I shall prescribe twenty motives for loving God.
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