131. Кто что любит, то и ищет

We see: what people love, they seek diligently, and the more they love, the more diligently they seek it. Who loves wealth, riches and seeks; He who loves honor and glory seeks honor and glory. And whoever is looking for something uses it in order to find the desired, convenient means and method, and avoids any obstacle. So merchants, wanting to collect wealth, wander and travel through foreign countries, and avoid and run away from any obstacles that are contrary to their desires. So, whoever truly loves God, the Highest Good, seeks Him with all zeal and diligence, and uses all means and methods for this, and runs away from any obstacle by which his desire is thwarted. The obstacle that hinders our search for eternal good is sinful custom and the love of the vain world. Therefore, if we want to love God and seek Him, we must turn away from sins and repent, and leave the world with delusion and vanity, and so desire and seek the one God. Christian! If you want to love God, hate sin, which is disgusting to God and hated by Him. It is impossible to love sin and God together. If you want to seek God, then do not seek in this world either honor, glory, wealth, or anything else pleasing to the flesh. All this must be left to the seeker of God; it is necessary to free the heart from all this so that there is a place in it for God - Eternal Good with His holy love. Saint David desired nothing, either in heaven or on earth, except God alone; That’s why I sang a sweet song: What can I want in heaven and without You what can I want on earth. My heart and my flesh fainted, O God of my heart and my portion, O God, forever (Ps. 72:25–26). Thus, by his example, the prophet of God teaches us not to desire or seek anything except God alone, if we want to seek and find Him. The way and means to find God is true humility of heart and fervent prayer. When God sees this in a person, then He comes to him with His sweetest love and makes his heart His church. He who loves Me will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with him, says the Lord (John 14:23). You have not abandoned those who seek You, O Lord (Ps. 9:11). The rich have become poor and hungry, but those who seek the Lord will not be deprived of any good (Ps. 33:11). Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord be glad. Seek the Lord and be strong, seek His face always (Ps. 104:3-4). If someone were to say where to look for God: in the desert, or in a monastery, or in Jerusalem, or in some other place? Answer: Look there, where you are and where you live. God is present in every place, and there is no place where God is not; He is everywhere and fulfills everything, although His presence is invisible and incomprehensible to us. Thus the psalmist sings: Where shall I go from Thy Spirit, and where shall I flee from Thy Face? If I ascend to heaven - You are there; If I go to hell, you will be there too. If I lift up my wings in the morning and settle on the edge of the sea, Thy hand will lead me there, and Thy right hand will hold me (Ps. 139:7-10). For you can look for the Omnipresent One everywhere. Just pay attention to yourself everywhere, and do not follow those about whom it is written: they did not present God before themselves (Ps. 53:5); but follow the psalmist, who says about himself: I always saw the Lord before me (Ps. 15:8). And so, turning away from all sin, and leaving the world with its charm and vanity behind you, look to the one God and consider Him the end of all your desires, and call upon Him with a contrite and humble heart. Then you will know and feel within yourself that He is close, and you will sing to Him with the prophet: You are near, O Lord, and all Your ways are truth (Ps. 119:151). For the Lord is close to all who call on Him in truth (Ps. 145:18). And one more thing: The Lord is close to the brokenhearted (Ps. 33:19). However, nowhere is it so convenient to find God as in solitude and peace. Among the people there is vanity and temptations that pose an obstacle to the God-loving soul. In solitude there is silence and peace, here the eyes do not see and the ears do not hear anything that could cause a God-loving soul to be indignant. Therefore, one holy father, when others asked him: “Why are you running away from us?” - He answered wisely: “I cannot be with God and people at the same time.” Therefore, the seeker of God must keep to solitude; and when he needs to go out to the people, he must pay attention to himself everywhere, and present God, who is everywhere present, before the spiritual eyes of God, so as not to sin before Him in anything and not to offend Him. See that you walk carefully, not as fools, but as wise (Eph. 5:15). You might be interested in: