139. Малые дети

We see that small children are meaningless. When their games and funny things are taken away from them, they cry and sob, but when the villains find them and plunder their house and property, they laugh and do not care about it. Many Christians are like these children. When something temporary is taken away from them, they cry and sob, and often commit death to themselves; and they do not care about the fact that eternal bliss is taken away from them through sin. They are deprived of either wealth, or honor, or temporary glory - they lament and grieve, weep and weep; but that the villain of human souls, the devil, with his cunning deprives them of eternal life, wealth, honor, and glory and all eternal bliss, they do not care about this. These include fornicators, adulterers and all lovers of uncleanness, thieves, predatory robbers, sorcerers and those who invite them, blasphemers, slanderers, scolders, crafty cunning, deceitful and others in sin. It is evident that all such people do not care about the eternal treasure of salvation, which is taken away from them by the cunning of the devil. To know that what they don’t see, they don’t care about; and what they see, they worry about, and regret what they have lost; This is how they do not see eternal life, and they do not regret its destruction. And so these people themselves see that they have only faith on their lips, but unbelief and atheism are hidden in their hearts, for it is impossible, truly impossible, for someone who has the lamp of faith burning in his heart not to strive for eternal blessings with all zeal, and not to remain in true repentance, and not to move away from all sin. For faith renews a person, and turns him away from sins and the vanity of the world, and guides him to future promised blessings, and presents them to him as visible. ABOUT! If a person saw even a small particle of eternal life, he would abandon all the vanity of this world and hasten towards it with great desire. But since he does not see it, and does not believe in God’s word, which variously depicts the bliss of that life, he does not seek it and does not regret what destroys it, but only strives for what his feelings present to him, and, deprived of it, regrets it. This is the work of small and senseless children, or even bestial life, for what animals see is what they strive for; and what they don’t see, they don’t want. Man, being in honor, did not understand, became equal to foolish beasts and became like them (Ps. 48:21). This is not what a Christian and pious soul does, which has the lamp of faith burning in its heart. She hastens with every desire to eternal life, and is very afraid of losing it; and therefore he turns away from all sin and the vanity of the world, as from obvious obstacles to it, and talks about temporary blessings according to the apostolic word: We brought nothing into the world; It’s obvious that we can’t take anything out of it. Having food and clothing, we will be content (1 Tim. 6:7–8). And when he is deprived of temporary blessings, he does not lament as the sons of this age do, but with the righteous Job he says: The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as the Lord pleased, so it was done; Blessed be the name of the Lord! ( Job 1:21 ). Christian! It is great madness and obvious destruction to regret and cry over what passes like a shadow, what we now have, but soon will not have, for the end of our life puts an end to everything, and not to regret what, once found, remains forever. The word of God is true: what it says will certainly come to pass. Beautifully and variously it depicts and presents to us eternal life, and shows the way to receive it, that is, true repentance and living faith. So, lively and truly believe the word of God, and, without a doubt, you will be changed and renewed, and you will see the future life with the eye of faith, and while still living on earth, you will taste small grains of its sweetness. Then you and the psalmist will say in your heart: How desirable are Your villages, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longs with all its might for the courts of the Lord (Ps. 84:2-3). Then, I tell you the truth, the whole world with all its vanity, pride and beauty will disgust you. Brethren! Do not be children in mind: be infants in evil, but mature in mind (1 Cor. 14:20). I want you to be wise in good and simple in evil (Rom. 16:19). You might be interested in: