148. Как мне Его забыть!

We hear one person say something like this about another: “How can I forget him!” This is said when one says to another: “Often you remember him, that is, such and such a person.” Then the one who remembers replies: “How can I forget him! I have received many blessings from him.” Christian, most of all about our God, I and you should say from the heart: “How can I forget Him!” We were created by our God, redeemed, and we have received and always receive so many benefits from Him that we cannot not only explain them in words, but even with our minds, for they are immeasurable and countless, known and unknown; in a word, we are surrounded by God’s blessings and cannot live even a minute without them. So, how can we forget Him, Him, our Benefactor! Let us not forget Him, Christian! God spoke to Old Israel through His prophet: I created you, My servant Jacob, and you, Israel, do not forget Me (Isa. 46:21). This is what God says to a Christian: “My servant, I created you, Christian, and do not forget Me.” When a Christian was created, when a Christian was baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, then the Christian was created by God as a servant of God; formerly he was a slave of the devil, but in Holy Baptism he was already made a servant of God. Remember this, Christian, that you are a servant of God, the Lord created you, His servant, and you, Christian, do not forget Him. In the name of Christ, a Christian, as he is marked with the royal seal, is called a Christian from Christ. We hear about the ancient Israelites that when they worshiped an idol, they forgot God who saved them (Ps. 105:21) and so on. Thus, Christians forget God, who saves them, when after Baptism they turn to iniquities, and, having become slaves of God, they become willing slaves of sin. Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin (John 8:34). Every lawbreaker and lawless person forgets God, his Benefactor, for he forgets His holy commandments. The fornicator and the adulterer forget; the thief, the kidnapper and the robber forgets; the slanderer, the scolder, and every slanderer forgets; the charmer, the deceiver and the deceitful one forgets; Everyone who fearlessly destroys the commandment of God forgets. When you say, Christian, about God: “How can I forget God?” - then do not forget the commandments of His saints, but always have them before you, as the commandments of God, and always fulfill them. When you do this, you will truly not forget God Himself. Otherwise, although you remember the name of God every minute, but neglect God’s commandments, you forget God, your Benefactor, and so you turn out to be ungrateful to Him, for your memory of Him is only in your lips and tongue, but it is not in your heart, but oblivion. For a person who is truly grateful to his benefactor remembers him not only on his lips, but also in his heart, and remembers his good deeds; so a Christian not only bears the name of God on his lips, but also has the memory of Him in his heart, and must love Him and thank Him. For memory, gratitude, and love are inseparable. He who loves his benefactor always remembers him; whoever remembers is excited to give thanks for his good deeds, for it is impossible not to thank the benefactor, and sincerely not to remember his good deeds. For the very act of goodness arouses gratitude. The very beasts remember the good deed, and love the benefactor, and serve him. If, Christian, you do not forget God with your lips, then do not forget in your heart; without this, your memory is nothing. If you pray to God: “Remember me, O Lord, in Your kingdom” (Luke 23:42), then remember Him here in this world, as stated above. If you say to God: “Do not forget me,” and He says to you: “And you, Christian, do not forget Me and My commandments.” A person who remembers his benefactor is excited by seeing his good deeds, that is, either the house that he built for him, or the clothes that he dressed him in, or something else. “My benefactor gave me these clothes; This bread that I eat I received from him; This house in which I live, he built for me by his mercy,” and so on. Thus, all His good deeds should move a Christian to loving remembrance of God the Benefactor. Christian! Everything and every good thing that you have is God’s good and blessing. All this stimulates the remembrance of God. Whatever you see, think and say to yourself like this: “This is the house in which I live and calm down, this is the food that I eat, and this is the drink with which I cool and am comforted, this is the clothing with which I cover myself and keep warm, this is the cattle that serves me; this fire that warms me and cooks food for me, these luminaries (sun, moon and stars) that shine for me and all creation, and so on - God’s goodness and blessing. You always receive good deeds from God, and you always take advantage of God’s goodness and are so comforted that you can be without it even for a minute. Always and at all times you must remember God and thank Him for everything: I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise is always in my mouth (Ps. 33:2). That time, day, hour and minute perishes in which the Lord does not bless us, for the blessings of God continually flow like rivers and are generously poured out on us. The Lord is generous and merciful, long-suffering and abounding in mercy. The Lord is good to everyone, and His mercies are in all His works. Let all Your works glorify You, O Lord, and let Your saints bless You (Ps. 145:8-10). God and His good deeds are brought to mind by holy images. The image of the Annunciation shows us how the Lord who loves mankind, desiring to be born of the Virgin in the Flesh, and to come into the world, and to appear to the world, and thus to bring about our salvation, sent His Archangel to announce this love for mankind to the Most Blessed Virgin, and through Her to the whole world. The image of the saving Nativity of Christ brings to our memory how God the Beginning began, and the Invisible became visible, and the Immaterial was incarnated, and the Intangible was touched, and the Ancient of Days was an infant, and the All-Powerful became powerless, and He who held in His hand all the ends of the earth ran with His mother’s hands, and He who gives food to all flesh fed on His mother’s milk, and He who is clothed with light as wrapped in a robe, wrapped in baby swaddling clothes. Oh miracle - God was infancy! For my sake and for your sake, man, our Lord created this. Bless the Lord, all sons of men! Bless the Lord, my soul! Remember this, Christian, and do not forget the Lord. The image of Christ’s suffering represents to us how He cleansed our sins, and satisfied God’s righteousness for us, and propitiated God, His Heavenly Father, and Him with us, and reconciled us with Him, and redeemed us from the devil, death and hell, and opened the doors of God’s kingdom, closed by our sins, and thus brought us salvation and eternal bliss. This and other highest blessings of God represent to us the image of Christ’s suffering. Remember this, Christian, and do not forget Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who suffered for you. Also, all Holy Scripture, as the Word of God, all the wonderful works of God and His benefits described in it, shown to the human race, all the holidays of God established by the Holy Church, bring God to our memory, and His highest benefits to us, and excite us to thanksgiving and glorification of the name of God, as we hear in church poems and songs that are sung on holy holidays. Heed this, Christian, and do not forget God, your Benefactor. Know for sure that those Christians forget God who live without the fear of God, and do not heed His holy commandments, and sin and commit lawlessness against Him. They all walk in the darkness of ignorance of God, they do not know God, although they confess Him and thus forget Him. They are content with God's blessings, but they forget God the Benefactor. To such the prophet says: understand this - that is, that God will bring your sins before your face - those who forget God, so that He does not snatch you away, and then no one will deliver (Ps. 49:22). Beware, Christian, of forgetting God and His holy commandments, so that you will not be forgotten by God forever. My soul will live and praise You, and Your judgments will help me. I have gone astray, like a lost sheep: seek Thy servant, for I have not forgotten Thy commandments (Ps. 119:175–176). Remember me, Lord, when you come to Your kingdom! (Luke 23:42) You might be interested in: