Second Day.- — On the End of Man
1. God alone is our last end; he did not create us but for himself. Our hearts tell us that we were made for him; we cannot disown it without belying ourselves.
2. Every one should have what justly belongs to him; let us then give ourselves to God, since it is he that has a right to us. If we be not his children of our own accord, we must be his slaves in spite of us. We must of necessity live under the dominion of his justice or his bounty. Which choice shall we make?
3. Every thing should tend to its proper object, and act according to its nature. If the sun, which is made to shine, refused its light to the world, it would be a monster in the universe; nor is that heart less monstrous, which, being made for God, doth still refuse to belong to him. Do I behave myself as a creature which belongs to God? Are my thoughts and all my actions directed to him? Ah, how little do I do, that may be called truly done for God? What doth all the business in this world avail me, if I forget the only affair for which I am come into it.
Make here a resolution of seeking God alone, and of depriving him of nothing which he has a right to.
“Thou art my Lord and my God.” John, xx.
“He requires you entirely, who hath made you entirely.” St. Augustine.