I

Many people wish to truly love God,

but because their hearts are not their own,

they have no control over themselves,

they have no control over themselves;

many people truly love God in the trials given by Him,

yet they are incapable of grasping that God really exists,

and merely love Him in emptiness, and not because of His actual existence;

many people lay their hearts before God

and then pay no attention to their hearts,

and thus their hearts are snatched away by Satan,

snatched away by Satan whenever it gets the chance,

and then they leave God;

many people genuinely love God when He provides His words,

yet don’t cherish His words in their spirits,

instead casually using them like public property

and tossing them back to where they came from whenever they feel like it.

II

Man searches for God, searches for God amidst pain,

and they look unto Him among trials.

During times of peace they enjoy God, when in peril they deny Him,

when they are busy they forget Him,

and when they are idle they go through the motions for Him—

yet never has anyone loved God throughout their whole life.

God wishes for man to be earnest before Him:

He does not ask that man give Him anything,

but only that all people take Him seriously,

that, instead of wheedling Him,

they allow Him to bring back the sincerity of man.

III

God’s enlightenment and illumination pervade all people,

and the cost of His efforts pervades all people,

the cost of His efforts pervades all people,

yet so too does the true fact of man’s every action pervade all people,

as does their deception of Him, as does their deception of Him.

Never has God been befuddled by the blandishments and chicanery of man,

for God figured out their substance long ago.

Who knows how much impurity is in their blood,

how much impurity is in their blood,

and how much of Satan’s venom is within their marrow?

Man grows more accustomed to it with each passing day,

such that they don’t feel the harm done by Satan,

and thus have no interest in finding out the “art of a healthy existence.”

from The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. God’s Words to the Entire Universe, Chapter 21