Concluding Reflection
1. As Christians, it would be very profitable for us to reflect, every morning, that we have on that day a God to glorify, a Saviour to imitate, our souls to save, our bodies to mortify, virtues to acquire, sins to satisfy for, heaven to seek after, hell to fly, eternity to meditate on, time to improve, temptations to overcome, the devil to resist, our neighbour to edify, our passions to subdue, the world to guard against, and perhaps death and judgment to undergo. Reflect seriously on all these important truths, and they will not only incite you to begin the day well, but also, in the course thereof, to make the affair of your eternal salvation your principal study.
2. As it is also a duty of the last consequence to conclude the day properly, nothing can prove a more powerful incitement thereto, than the serious consideration of the many spiritual and temporal blessings which God hath bestowed on you; the various evils from which his providence hath hitherto preserved you; and the absolute uncertainty whether you shall ever unclose your eyes to behold the next morning. Thousands who had as good a right to expect it as you, were nevertheless disappointed. The very bed on which you lie is a memento mori, or kind of sepulchre; and sleep, the image of death. What unaccountable rashness then must it be, for a sinner to compose himself to sleep in a state of mortal sin, without first endeavouring to appease the wrath of God by an act of contrition, or some other spiritual exercise of piety and devotion; since that very night, perhaps, his soul may be required of him!
3. Let us then guard against this danger, by a faithful discharge of every Christian duty; let us frequently exclaim, with the prophet: “Enlighten mine eyes, O Lord, that I may never sleep in death, lest the enemy at any time may say, I have prevailed against him.”
“He that desires to make any progress in the service of God, must begin every day with fresh ardour; he must, as much as possible, keep himself in the presence of God, and in all his actions, have no other object in view but that of promoting the divine honour.” St. C. Borromeus.