THEOSISAugustine of Hippo
The Path of Christ When you commit to following the path of Christ, do not expect material wealth. Christ endured suffering, yet He offered great promises. Focus less on the journey itself and more on the destination ahead. There will be challenges along the way, but the joys you will receive are everlasting. God intends our trials to be temporary and brief. Life on earth is merely a fleeting moment, with joyful days often overshadowing the difficult ones, and indeed, the times of trial are intentionally made shorter and infrequent to allow us to persevere. Even if someone has spent their entire life in toil and has faced numerous hardships—experiencing pain, confinement, disasters, hunger, and thirst—life is still but a brief event.
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Once this labor ends, the eternal kingdom will arrive, bringing boundless joy, equality with angels, the inheritance from Christ, and Christ Himself as our co-heir. What then can labor mean when the reward is so magnificent? If you choose the path of Christ and truly embody what it means to be a Christian—someone who embraces His way and seeks to walk in His sufferings—do not stray from the path He took. This road may appear daunting, yet it leads to salvation. The alternative may look appealing, but it is obstructed by those who do evil.
In order for humanity to fully embrace the path laid out by the Lord, it is He Himself who guides their journey. If divine guidance were absent, our steps would be inherently flawed, leading us to persist on misguided routes without the possibility of turning back. However, He has come to us, summoned us, redeemed us, and shed His blood; He offered this ransom, performed this good deed, and endured this suffering. Reflect on His actions—He is God! Contemplate His passion—He is fully man! Who is this divine-human being? If humanity had not turned away from God, there would have been no need for God to become incarnate for us! It was insufficient for you to simply acknowledge His creation of you as a human; He must also assume humanity Himself on your behalf.
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He actively leads us along His path, so we may experience His ways.
Even if a person spends their entire life in toil and anguish, enduring pain, torment, imprisonment, scourging, hunger, and thirst, every day and every hour, from youth to old age, the entirety of human existence is but a fleeting moment. Once this labor concludes, the Eternal Kingdom shall be unveiled; joy will know no bounds; we shall be equal to the angels; we will inherit with Christ, who is our co-heir (Rom. 8:17). What a formidable effort is required to receive such immense rewards! Consider the veterans who engage in warfare, enduring wounds and trials for years, entering military service in their youth and exiting only in their old age, seeking a few days of respite as they face the inevitable decline of age. They endure significant hardships—strenuous marches, bitter cold, blazing heat, numerous deprivations, wounds, and peril! Despite all this suffering, their thoughts remain steadfastly on the potential for those few days of rest in their old age, even though their attainment of such rest is uncertain.
Likewise, the Lord steers the path of the righteous, and he delights in following it. This is the essence of my message. If you delight in Christ's path and genuinely embody the essence of a Christian—a true Christian is one who does not reject Christ's way but rather takes joy in traversing His path through His own sufferings—then pursue no alternative route than the one He traveled Himself. Although it may appear arduous, it is indeed the way of safety; the other paths may seem appealing, yet they are fraught with danger. And in this journey, He finds joy.