Serious Christianity

I’ve been reading some Owen, Mortification of Sin, and I just read something by James Alexander in Thoughts on Preaching. I have been struck by the seriousness of these men and those like them. This doesn’t mean stodginess but taking the faith so utterly seriously and working hard and being faithful. This is so lacking today. We are not serious about the faith, about really striving to follow Jesus. Alexander referred to one day which Flavel spent in self-examination. No one, today, spends a full hour, let alone a full day, in self-examination. This is a very different view of Christianity. I need to be more like these men so that the people of my congregation can become more like these men. Only by the grace of God.