Is it worth it?
Brethren, remember what God has promised us - eternal life. Let no one lead you astray to your death, long for eternal life.
What can the world offer you?
But you answer, 'I am urged to sin by someone powerful, and I am afraid of his threats'. What does he threaten? Prison, tortures, wild beasts, flames? Are those flames eternal?
My brothers, tremble before the Almighty's threats, long for what he promises you and then you will hold cheap anything the world can threaten or promise.
You ask what your reward will be. You say, 'What I have heard from the beginning I keep hold of, I obey. I put up with labours, dangers, temptations, the body which weighs down the soul, all this in order to keep the faith. What will be my reward?'
Listen, beloved, and take courage: if trials seem about to overwhelm you, think of what you are promised, obey him who is Truth itself and whose word cannot fail.
Remember what will be said to those whom he places at his right hand, 'Come you blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom', but to those on his left, 'Depart, you cursed, into everlasting fire'. If you do not as yet long for his promises, at least be afraid of his threats.
DAILY READING WITH
St Augustine --- The Heart at Rest
Brethren, remember what God has promised us - eternal life. Let no one lead you astray to your death, long for eternal life.
What can the world offer you?
But you answer, 'I am urged to sin by someone powerful, and I am afraid of his threats'. What does he threaten? Prison, tortures, wild beasts, flames? Are those flames eternal?
My brothers, tremble before the Almighty's threats, long for what he promises you and then you will hold cheap anything the world can threaten or promise.
You ask what your reward will be. You say, 'What I have heard from the beginning I keep hold of, I obey. I put up with labours, dangers, temptations, the body which weighs down the soul, all this in order to keep the faith. What will be my reward?'
Listen, beloved, and take courage: if trials seem about to overwhelm you, think of what you are promised, obey him who is Truth itself and whose word cannot fail.
Remember what will be said to those whom he places at his right hand, 'Come you blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom', but to those on his left, 'Depart, you cursed, into everlasting fire'. If you do not as yet long for his promises, at least be afraid of his threats.
DAILY READING WITH
St Augustine --- The Heart at Rest
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