In 1865 Clement Evans, a Liverpool publisher, issued a book called Gems of Thought for Every Day in the Year, from the Writings of an Eminent Divine of the Seventeenth Century. That ‘eminent divine’ was William Gurnall (1616–1679), the Puritan minister and author of The Christian in Complete Armour.
As Joseph Hall (1574–1656), Bishop of Norwich, noted, ‘Every day is a little life: and our whole life is but a day repeated.’ Every day, therefore, should be a day to grow in our devotion to the Lord and in our understanding of his ways.
These ‘gems of thought’ from Gurnall’s writings will serve as helpful daily prompts for meditation, and will, if read prayerfully, lead readers to set their minds on heavenly things.
