It is mankind’s proper occupation to take My words as the basis for his survival. Man must establish his individual portion in each and every part of My words; not to do so would be asking for trouble, seeking his own destruction. Humanity does not know Me, and because of this, instead of bringing his own
life to Me to offer in exchange, all he does is parade in front of Me with the trash in his hands, trying thereby to give Me satisfaction. But, far from being satisfied by things as they are, I keep on making demands of humanity. I love man’s tribute, but hate his extortions. All men have hearts filled with greed; it is as if the human heart is in thrall to the devil, and man is unable to break free and offer his heart up to Me. When I speak, man listens to
My voice in rapt attention; but when I stop speaking, he starts again on his own “enterprise” and ceases entirely to heed My words, as if My words were an adjunct to his “enterprise.” I have never been lax with humanity, and yet I have also been long-suffering and magnanimous with humanity. And so, because of My leniency, human beings have all grown overweening, incapable of self-knowledge and self-reflection, and they take advantage of My forbearance to deceive Me. Not a single one among them sincerely cares for Me, and not a single one truly treasures Me as an object dear to his heart; only when they have idle moments to spare do they give Me their perfunctory regard. The effort I have expended on man is already beyond measure. I have wrought on man an unprecedented kind of work, and apart from this, I have given him an additional burden, in order that, out of what I have and what I am, man might gain in knowledge and undergo a change. I do this not to make man into a mere consumer, but to make him into a producer capable of inflicting defeat on Satan. Though I may not demand anything of man, nonetheless I do have standards for the demands I make, for there is a purpose in what I do, as well as principles in accordance with which I act: I do not, as man imagines, play around haphazardly, nor do I, in willful capriciousness, fashion the heavens and earth and the myriad things of creation. In My working, man should be able to see something, gain something. He should not squander away the springtime of his “youth,” or treat his own life like a garment on which dust is carelessly allowed to gather; rather, he should stand strict guard over himself, taking from My bounty to provide for his own enjoyment, until, for My sake, he cannot turn back toward Satan, and for My sake he mounts an attack against Satan. Isn’t what I ask of man as simple as this?
