was when I began to know and love Thee truly!—in all these years how few days I can reckon in which I have served Thee properly! If I were now to die in Thy sanctifying grace and friendship, should I rejoice with Thee in Thy kingdom of heaven for all eternity as a return for such a short and ill-rendered service? Truly, I should enter into the joy of my Lord! But when I shall have enjoyed this reward for a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand, a hundred thousand million years, will there be no end to my reward even then? No; it will last for eternity. And when I shall have been happy with Thee for as many countless millions of years as would be denoted by a number so great as to fill the whole firmament with figures, at the end of that time, shall I continue as before to have the same joy with Thee in heaven? Yes; “of His kingdom there shall be no end;” the kingdom of the elect of God, like that of God Himself, shall never come to an end. As long as God shall be God, so long shall the elect rejoice with their God in heaven, so long shall their pleasures and delights last without causing them the least weariness.
How generous our God is to give an eternal reward for such a short service!
Christians, what a generous and liberal Rewarder we have! What an exceeding great return we have to expect if we serve our God diligently! And how long must we serve Him? asks St. Augustine. An eternal reward should justly be paid for by an eternal service and labor; but see how little God asks from us. If He said to you: serve Me for a hundred thousand times a thousaud years in labor and suffering, and I will give you heaven, would He ask too much? Ah, that service compared to heaven is as nothing, and even then we should have reason to wonder at the goodness and generosity of God in giving such an exceeding great reward for such a small service. For the hundred thousand times a thousand years would come to an end some time, but the heavenly .joys prepared as a reward for it last forever. Now the Lord does not say to you: serve Me for a hundred thousand times a thousand years; He does not say: serve Me for a hundred years, but: serve Me as long as you live; whether your life is long or short makes no difference to Me; let it come to an end in a year, or in half a year, or in a month, or this very day, I will be satisfied with your work. Only serve Me during that short time; love Me so as to do nothing against My will and divine law, and as a reward I will give you eternal joys in the kingdom of heaven. O good God! what an exceeding great reward Thou bestowest for such a short service! O my
