The only way to be kept from falling is to grow

R.M. McCheyne in a pastoral letter dated March 13, 1839: The only way to be kept from falling is to grow. If you stand still, you will fall. Read Prov. 11:28, “The righteous shall flourish as a branch.” Remember you are not a tree, that can stand alone; you are only “a branch,” and it is only while you abide in Him, as a branch, that you will flourish. Keep clear your sense of justification; remember it is not your own natural goodness, nor your tears, nor your sanctification, that will justify you before God. It is Christ’s sufferings and obedience alone. Seek to be made holier every day; pray, strive, wrestle for the Spirit, to make you like God. Be as much as you can with God. I declare to you that I had rather be one hour with God, than a thousand with the sweetest society on earth or in heaven. All other joys are but streams; God is the fountain: “all my springs are in Thee.”

McCheyne, Robert Murray ; Bonar, Andrew A.: Memoir and Remains of the Rev. Robert Murray McCheyne. Edinburgh; London : Oliphant Anderson & Ferrier, 1894, S. 206

Our best friend

“Christ is our best friend, and ere long will be our only friend. I pray God with all my heart that I may be weary of everything else but converse and communion with him.”

- John Owen, quoted by Adrian Warnock in Raised With Christ: How The Resurrection Changes Everything (Wheaton, Ill.; Crossway, 2010), 201-2.

(HT: Of First Importance)