February 3
God seeks our service
he same is true
of service given to God. God gains no advantage from it; he has no need
of our service. Yet to those who follow and serve him he gives life, incorruptibility,
and eternal glory. He rewards his servants for their service and his followers
for their loyalty, but he derives no benefit from them, for he is perfect
and in need of nothing.
God seeks the service of human beings because he is good and merciful and desires to bless those who persevere in serving him. He is in need of nothing, but we are in need of communion with him.
It is our glory to persevere in God's service. This was why the Lord said to his disciples: You did not choose me; it was I who chose you, meaning by this that it was not they who were glorifying him by their discipleship, but that they themselves were receiving glory from the Son of God for following him. He also said: It is my wish that where I am they also may be, so that they may see my glory. He said this not out of vanity, but because of his desire to share his glory with his disciples.
| Augustine Day By Day | The Augustinians - St. Thomas of Villanova Province |
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
HTML text prepared by David P. Steelman