287  Gaining God’s Words Means Gaining True Life

I

God’s words can accomplish all things and change all things. All things must pass away, only God’s words will never pass away, and just like God Himself, God’s words will live forever. From this we see God’s authority, God’s wisdom, and we see the power displayed in His words. Because God’s words represent His life, His essence, and His disposition, they will live forever just as God will. The words of God are so important to mankind. No matter what you obtain, it’s not a real treasure. Even if you succeed in practicing self-cultivation, you will not necessarily live forever, and that’s because you’re a created being, everything is predestined by God, and no one can escape God’s sovereignty.

II

All things must pass away, only God’s words will never pass away, and just like God Himself, God’s words will live forever. These words give you a path of practice: It is not to pursue or cherish anything in the material world; these things are empty, gone in the blink of an eye. These things can only satisfy the momentary needs, predilections and desires of your flesh, or your moods and affections, and so on, yet they cannot satisfy your spiritual needs. When your spirit feels hungry, thirsty, and empty, nothing in the material world can satisfy your spiritual needs or fill the emptiness in your innermost heart, and that is why pursuing these things is pointless.

III

When you read God’s words and understand the truth, then your innermost heart is replenished and enjoys peace and joy, and your heart feels satisfied and at ease. If you continue to pursue in this way, then when God’s words become your life, no one can take your life from you and no one can destroy it. You’ll no longer feel empty, you’ll no longer feel lost, fearful, or uneasy living in this world, for you will have God’s words guiding you, providing for you, enabling you to live with purpose and direction. You will live every day with a sense of meaning and value.

IV

Once God’s words have occupied one’s heart, the truth becomes their life within them, their inner essence and life are changed, and so they feel differently. Their feelings and predilections, their various emotions, their goals in life, the direction of their pursuit, their rules for living are all completely different. They can pursue the truth and seek to know God, and they become able to live in accordance with the way God requires them to live. People who achieve this come to have genuine life, a life that is not subject to decay. This life within these people won’t disappear, it will not deteriorate, and they will not face destruction as they did before.

from The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. What It Means to Pursue the Truth (16)