St. Augustine asked his followers if they really loved God. “Do you love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength?” he asked. Then he told a story as a way to discover the answer. Suppose God came to a man and said, “The world and all that is in it is yours. I will give you perfect health. Whatever your heart desires is yours. I will even do away with sin and death and enable you to live forever.”
Sounds good, doesn’t it? The whole world at your disposal...no sin, only eternal life?
Too good, perhaps.
"There is only one thing you will not have,” God would say in this imaginary exchange. “You will never see My face. The choice is yours. I will respect your wish.”
Augustine said if there was a quiver in a person’s heart at the words “You will never see My face,” it is quite possible that he or she might really love God. If a person decided to turn away from all that the world could offer for the joy of seeing God’s face, his or her love might be true. Sounds like a pretty good test to me!
The only satisfaction to be found in this life is found in the love of God. We can choose Him through His Son Jesus Christ and know Him as we are known. Only then does satisfaction come—but then, it comes from everywhere. Because when the soul is satisfied, all the other things in life may be enjoyed for what they are: gifts from a God who is unchanging and good, and whose love endures forever.
MEMORY VERSE
You shall love the Lord Your God with all you heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE
Genesis 31-34; John 17
