The Methods of Conversing Continually and Familiarily with God commences When holy Job considered that God was so intent on promoting man's welfare that He desired nothing so much as to love man and to be loved by man, he wondered; and addressing himself to Him, exclaimed: "What is a man, that thou shouldst magnify him? or why dost thou set thy heart upon him?" (Job 7:17). From this it appears that it is wrong to suppose that to treat with God familiarly and with great confidence is to be wanting of that respect which is due to His Divine Majesty. You ought indeed, devout soul, to reverence Him with all humility, and to abase yourself before Him, particularly at the remembrance of your ingratitude, and the outrages which you have committed against Him; but this ought not to hinder you from treating with Him with the greatest possible love and confidence. He is Infinite Majesty; but, at the same time, He is Infinite Bounty and Infinite Love. You have in God the highest Lord; but you have in Him also the greatest lover. He does not look down upon you with disdain, but is pleased when you treat with Him with the same confidence, freedom, and love, as children treat with their mothers. Hear how He invites us to present ourselves at His feet, and the caresses which He promises us: "You shall be carried at the breasts; and upon the knees they shall caress you. As one whom the mother caresseth, so will I comfort you." (Is. 66:12-13). As a mother delights in taking her child upon her knees, in caressing and feeding him, so does our dear Lord delight in treating with equal love and tenderness those souls who give themselves entirely to Him, and place all their hopes in His goodness and bounty. In Uniformity with God's Will we read: "A man has two servants. One works unremittingly all day long -- but according to his own devices; the other, conceivably, works less, but he does do what he is told. This latter of course is going to find favor in the eyes of his master; the other will not. Now, in applying this example, we may ask: Why should we perform actions for God's glory if they are not going to be acceptable to him? God does not want sacrifices, the prophet Samuel told King Saul, but he does want obedience to his will: "Doth the Lord desire holocausts and victims, and not rather that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed? For obedience is better than sacrifices; and to hearken, rather than to offer the fat of rams. Because it is like the sin of witchcraft to re