02.07. Of love toward god not without reward
7. Of love toward god not without reward And now let us consider whatprofitwe shall have fromlovingGod. Even though ourknowledgeof this is imperfect, still that is better than to ignore it altogether. I have already said (when it was aquestionof wherefore and in what mannerGodshould beloved) that there was a double reasonconstrainingus: His right and ouradvantage. Having written asbestI can, thoughunworthily, of God’s right to beloved. I have still to treat of the recompense which thatlovebrings. For althoughGodwould belovedwithout respect ofreward, yet He wills not to leaveloveunrewarded. Truecharitycannot be leftdestitute, even though she is unselfish and seeketh not her own (1 Corinthians 13:5).Loveis an affection of thesoul, not a contract: it cannot rise from a mereagreement, nor is it so to begained. It is spontaneous in its origin and impulse; and trueloveis its own satisfaction.
It has its reward; but that reward is the object beloved. For whatever you seem to love, if it is on account of something else, what you do really love is that something else, not the apparent object of desire. St Paul did not preach the Gospel that he might earn his bread; he ate that he might be strengthened for his ministry. What he loved was not bread, but the Gospel.
Truelovedoes not demand areward, but it deserves one. Surely no one offers to pay forlove; yet some recompense is due to one wholoves, and if hisloveendureshe will doubtless receive it. On a lower plane of action, it is the reluctant, not the eager, whom we urge bypromisesofreward. Who would think of paying a man to do what he was yearning to do already? For instance no one wouldhirea hungry man to eat, or athirstyman to drink, or a mother tonurseher ownchild. Who would think of bribing a farmer todresshis ownvineyard, or todigabout his orchard, or to rebuild hishouse? So, all the more, one wholovesGodtruly asks no other recompense thanGodHimself; for if he should demand anything else it would be theprizethat helovedand notGod.
It isnaturalfor a man to desire what he reckons better than that which he has already, and be satisfied with nothing which lacks that special quality which he misses. Thus, if it is for herbeautythat heloveshiswife, he will cast longingeyesafter a fairerwoman. If he is clad in arichgarment, he willcoveta costlier one; and no matter howrichhe may be he willenvya man richer than himself. Do we not see people every day, endowed with vastestates, who keep on joiningfieldtofield, dreaming of wider boundaries for theirlands? Those who dwell inpalacesare ever addinghousetohouse, continuallybuildingup and tearing down, remodeling and changing. Men in high places are driven by insatiableambitionto clutch at still greater prizes. And nowhere is there any final satisfaction, because nothing there can be defined as absolutely thebestor highest. But it isnaturalthat nothing should content a man’s desires but the verybest, as he reckons it. Is it not, then,madfollyalways to be craving for things which can neverquietour longings, much less satisfy them? No matter how many such things one has, he is alwayslustingafter what he has not; never atpeace, he sighs for new possessions. Discontented, he spends himself in fruitless toil, and finds only weariness in the evanescent and unrealpleasuresof theworld. In his greediness, hecountsall that he has clutched as nothing in comparison with what is beyond his grasp, and loses allpleasurein his actual possessions by longing after what he has not, yetcovets. No man can everhopeto own all things. Even the little one does possess is got only with toil and is held infear; since each is certain to lose what he hath when God’s day,appointedthough unrevealed. shall come. But the perverted will struggles towards the ultimate good by devious ways, yearning after satisfaction, yet ledastraybyvanityanddeceivedbywickedness. Ah, if you wish to attain to the consummation of all desire, so that nothing unfulfilled will be left, why weary yourself with fruitless efforts, running hither and thither, only todielong before thegoalis reached?
It is so that these impious ones wander in a circle, longing after something to gratify their yearnings, yet madly rejecting that which alone can bring them to their desired end, not by exhaustion but by attainment. They wear themselves out in vain travail, without reaching their blessed consummation, because they delight in creatures, not in the Creator. They want to traverse creation, trying all things one by one, rather than think of coming to Him who is Lord of all. And if their utmost longing were realized, so that they should have all the world for their own, yet without possessing Him who is the Author of all being, then the same law of their desires would make them contemn what they had and restlessly seek Him whom they still lacked, that is, God Himself. Rest is in Him alone. Man knows no peace in the world; but he has no disturbance when he is with God. And so the soul says with confidence, “Whom have I in heaven but Thee; and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of Thee. God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. It is good for me to hold me fast by God, to put my trust in the Lord God” (Psalms 73:25 ff).
Even by this way one would eventually come to God, if only he might have time to test all lesser goods in turn.
Butlifeis too short,strengthtoofeeble, and competitors too many, for that course to be practicable. One could never reach the end, though he were to weary himself with the long effort and fruitless toil of testing everything that might seem desirable. It would befareasier and better to make the assay inimaginationrather than in experiment. For themindis swifter in operation and keener in discrimination than the bodily senses, to this very purpose that it may go before the sensuous affections so that they maycleaveto nothing which themindhas found worthless. And so it is written, “Prove all things: hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Which is to say that rightjudgmentshould prepare the way for theheart. Otherwise we may not ascend into thehillof theLordnor rise up in His holy place (Psalms 24:3). We should have noprofitin possessing a rationalmindif we were to follow the impulse of the senses, like brutebeasts, with no regard at all to reason. Those whom reason does notguidein their course may indeedrun, but not in theappointedrace-track, neglecting the apostoliccounsel, “Sorunthat ye may obtain’. For how could they obtain theprizewho put that last of all in their endeavor andrunround after everything else first? But as for therighteousman, it is not so with him. He remembers the condemnation pronounced on the multitude whowanderaftervanity, whotravelthe broad way that leads todeath(Matthew 7:13); and he chooses the King’shighway, turning aside neither to the righthandnor to the left (Numbers 20:17), even as theprophetsaith, “The way of the just is uprightness (Isaiah 26:7).Warnedby wholesomecounselheshunsthe perilous road, and heeds the direction that shortens the search, forbiddingcovetousnessand commanding that he sell all that he hath and give to thepoor(Matthew 19:21).Blessed, truly, are thepoor, for theirs is theKingdomofHeaven(Matthew 5:3). They whichrunin a race,runall, but distinction is made among the racers. “TheLordknoweth the way of therighteous: and the way of theungodlyshall perish” (Psalms 1:6). “Asmallthing that therighteoushath is better than greatrichesof the ungodly” (Psalms 37:16).
Even as the Preacher saith, and the fool discovereth, “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). But Christ saith, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6).
Righteousness is the natural and essential food of the soul, which can no more be satisfied by earthly treasures than the hunger of the body can be satisfied by air. If you should see a starving man standing with mouth open to the wind, inhaling draughts of air as if in hope of gratifying his hunger, you would think him lunatic. But it is no less foolish to imagine that the soul can be satisfied with worldly things which only inflate it without feeding it. What have spiritual gifts to do with carnal appetites, or carnal with spiritual? Praise the Lord, O my soul: who satisfieth thy mouth with good things (Psalms 103:1 ff). He bestows bounty immeasurable; He provokes thee to good, He preserves thee in goodness; He prevents, He sustains, He fills thee. He moves thee to longing, and it is He for whom thou longest.
I have said already that the motive for loving God is God Himself. And I spoke truly, for He is as well the efficient cause as the final object of our love. He gives the occasion for love, He creates the affection, He brings the desire to good effect. He is such that love to Him is a natural due; and so hope in Him is natural, since our present love would be vain did we not hope to love Him perfectly some day. Our love is prepared and rewarded by His. He loves us first, out of His great tenderness; then we are bound to repay Him with love; and we are permitted to cherish exultant hopes in Him. “He is rich unto all that call upon Him” (Romans 10:12), yet He has no gift for them better than Himself. He gives Himself as prize and reward: He is the refreshment of holy soul, the ransom of those in captivity. “The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him” (Lamentations 3:25).
What will He be then to those who gain His presence? But here is a paradox, that no one can seek the Lord who has not already found Him. It is Thy will, O God, to be found that Thou mayest be sought, to be sought that Thou mayest the more truly be found. But though Thou canst be sought and found, Thou canst not be forestalled. For if we say, “Early shall my prayer come before Thee” (Psalms 88:13), yet doubtless all prayer would be lukewarm unless it was animated by Thine inspiration.
We have spoken of the consummation of love towards God: now to consider whence such love begins.