_Thief_ VIII. Another notorious time-wasting thief, is needless, inordinate sports and games, which are commonly stigmatized by the offenders themselves, with the infamous name of pastimes, and masked with the deceitful title of recreations; such as are cards and dice, and stage-plays, and dancings, and revellings, and excesses in the most lawful sports, especially in hunting, and hawking, and bowling,[298] &c. Whether all these are lawful or unlawful of themselves, is nothing to the present question; but I am sure that the precious hours which they take up, might have been improved to the saving of many a thousand souls, that by the loss of time are now undone and past recovery. Except malicious enemies of godliness, I scarce know a wretcheder sort of people on the earth, and more to be lamented, than those fleshly persons, who, through the love of sensual pleasure, do waste many hours day after day in plays and gaming and voluptuous courses; while their miserable souls are dead in sin, enslaved to their fleshly lusts, unreconciled to God, and find no delight in him, or in his service, and cannot make a recreation of any heavenly work. How will it torment these unhappy souls, to think how they played away those hours, in which they might have been pleasing God, and preventing misery, and laying up a treasure in heaven! And to think that they sold that precious time for a little fleshly sport, in which they should have been working out their salvation, and making their calling and election sure. But I have more to say to these anon.
_Thief_ IX. Another time-wasting thief is excess of worldly cares and business. These do not only, as some more disgraced sins, pollute the soul with deep stains in a little time, and then recede; but they dwell upon the mind, and keep possession, and keep out good: they take up the greatest part of the lives of those that are guilty of them. The world is first in the morning in their thoughts, and last at night, and almost all the day: the world will not give them leave to entertain any sober, fixed thoughts of the world to come; nor to do the work which all works should give place to. The world devoureth all the time almost that God and their souls should have: it will not give them leave to pray, or read, or meditate, or discourse of holy things: even when they seem to be praying, or hearing the word of God, the world is in their thoughts; and as it is said, Ezek. xxxii. 31, "They come unto thee as the people cometh; and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love; but their heart goeth after their covetousness." In most families there is almost no talk nor doings but all for the world: these also will know, that they had greater works for their precious time, which should have always had the precedency of the world.
_Thief_ X. Another time-waster is vain ungoverned and sinful thoughts. When men are wearied with vain works and sports, they continue unwearied in vain thoughts; when they want company for vain discourse and games, they can waste the time in idle, or lustful, or ambitious, or covetous thoughts alone without any company. In the very night time while they wake, and as they travel by the way, yea, while they seem to be serving God, they will be wasting the time in useless thoughts: so that this devoureth a greater proportion of precious time, than any of the former. When time must be reckoned for, what abundance will be found upon most men's accounts, as spent in idle, sinful thoughts! O watch this thief; and remember, though you may think that a vain thought is but a little sin, yet time is not a little or contemptible commodity, nor to be cast away on so little a thing as idle thoughts; and to vilify thus so choice a treasure is not a little sin; and that it is not a little work that you have to do in the time which you thus waste. And a daily course of idle thoughts doth waste so great a measure of time, that this aggravation maketh it more heinous than many sins of greater infamy. But of this more in the next part.