The Journals & Notebook of
 Nathan Bangs 1805-1806, 1817

 

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Editorial Annotations


 

 

Monday 17 [March 1806]

Yesterday I preached twice with freedom and satisfaction and I trust some [g]ood was done in the Name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. My soul seems to be athirst for more of God. I often catch my heart wandering from God in Prayer which is a grief to my mind. A temptation has got hold of me which I have not felt for these some months. A neglect of the present [ms. torn] the prospect of some future good. But I am striv[i]ng to right it, it being an effectual means of [ms. torn] my contentment and peace. A conten[te]d mind, saith Solomon, is a Continual feast [Prov 15.15], a [ms. torn]ong which I have been much blessed with and [ms. torn] I believe to be inseparably connected with [ms. torn] I know there is such a thing as a fal[se] contentment, which is the result of Sloth; but what has this to do with a Christian. If through the neglect of our duty we are brought into troubles, we sit down contented and gracily [graciously] say this is my lot, the Providence of God would have it so; we have then got a false peace. But if we are then uneasy it is not the Devil tempting of us, but our own hearts which condemn us, and God is greater than our hearts, who will surely condemn us. But if we perform our duty to God and our Neighbor, we have then a right to look by faith to God through Christ as Christians, for his blessings, and whatever God sees fit to give us we are to be content with it. O Lord help me to follow the leadings of my Judgement, lest out of my own [ms. torn] I be condemned.
 

7 March 1806

Manuscript

28 April 1806

Primary Sources


 

 

Terms


Sloth: Its meaning is often considered roughly equivalent to that of the word laziness. The King James Bible says, "By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through" (Eccl 10.18).

 

Edited by Scott McLaren
Book History Practicum
University of Toronto