The following is an excerpt from a letter written by Susanna Wesley to her eldest son, Samuel.

“Consider well what a separation from the world, what purity, what devotion, what exemplary virtue, are required in those who are to guide others to glory … I would advise you to arrange your affairs by a certain method, by which you will learn to improve every precious moment … Begin and end the day with Him who is the Alpha and Omega, and if you really experience what it is to love God, you will redeem all the time you can for His more immediate service.

Endeavor to act upon principle and do not live like the rest of mankind, who pass through the world like straws upon a river, which are carried which way the stream or wind drives them … Get as deep an impression on your mind as is possible of the constant presence of the great and holy God. He is about our beds and about our paths and spies out all our ways. Whenever you are tempted to the commission of ay sin, or the omission of any duty, pause and say to yourself “What am I about to do? God sees me.”

Edith Deen, “Great Women of the Christian Faith”, Christian Herald Books, Chappaqua, New York, 1959, p. 142.