71. Обращение

When a slave turns away from his master and walks away from him, he turns his back to him, not his face, and what his master says he does not listen to. So the poor sinner, when he turns away from God with love and obedience and turns to evil deeds, turns his back on Him, as it were, and moves away from Him, and does not listen to what God says in His holy Word and does not care about it. About this, the prophet conveyed God’s complaint about the wicked: “They turned their backs to Me, and not their faces” (Jer. 2:27). And the prophet speaks against the wicked: “They did not present God before them” * (Ps. 53:5). This is disgusting disgust and apostasy from God! Not only then do people retreat from God when they renounce His holy name and approach foreign gods, but also when they do not want to do His will and fearlessly commit lawlessness, as the apostle wrote: “They say that they know God, but deny by their deeds, being vile and disobedient, and incapable of any good work” (Titus 1:16). Understand this, Christian, professing the name of Christ, but not living like a Christian! Know for sure that under the name of Christian there are many pagans, and even more so in these fierce times, in which among Christians the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life are more revered as a threefold god than God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the highest of all human veneration and glorification. When the slave turns to the master and stands in front of him, he is already facing him, and what the master says to him, he listens and heeds. So the sinner, when he feels himself and turns to God from his sins, already, as it were, stands facing Him, and pays veneration to Him as his God and Creator, listens to His holy lips, and whatever he says in the Holy Scriptures, he tries to do everything, and wherever he is, he sees God before him with the eyes of his soul and by faith, and fears any sin in deed, word and thought, so as not to anger Him. The prophet speaks about this: “I always saw the Lord before me” (Ps. 15:8). This is true conversion, true awakening from a sinful sleep, true repentance, true spiritual resurrection! Blessed is the man who is resurrected in this way and remains in that way to the end! Truly such a one will rise on the last day, not into death, but into life and eternal bliss! “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection: over him the second death has no power” (Rev. 20:6). Christian! Hurry to turn to the Lord your God - and you will certainly be saved by the grace of Christ. “God Almighty! Convert us and make Your face shine, and we will be saved!” (Ps. 79:8). “Do not remember our first iniquities; May Thy compassions soon precede us, for we are so poor. Help us, O God, our Savior, for the glory of Your name; deliver us and cleanse our sins in your name” (Ps. 79:8-9). When a person turns to a person and comes, he turns with his body and comes to him, although it often happens that his heart and spirit are turned away. This is not how we approach God. We turn to God and come not with our body and legs. For how and where do we turn to Him who is everywhere and in every place, and where we want to go is already there before we arrive? One turns to God, as Omnipresent, not by place, body and feet, but by heart and spirit. We turn to God when we get to know Him, we know that He is our Highest Good and Bliss, and, leaving other created things, the world, its vanity, and all kinds of sins that are disgusting to Him, we desire Him alone, we love, and we seek, and we honor Him more than all created things, and we always remember Him and fear that we might offend Him in some way. This is the true appeal to God! Just as turning to the world occurs when a person turns his heart to worldly things, that is, to honor, glory, wealth, luxury and all vanity, approaches and seeks them, like his beloved treasure, so turning to God happens when a person, having left all this, loves God alone, desires, approaches Him with his heart and seeks Him as the Highest Good. What a person recognizes and recognizes as his goodness and bliss, he loves. And what he loves is what he desires. He always thinks about what he wants. Whatever he thinks about, he seeks with zeal. Are you looking for honor, glory, wealth and other vanity in this world? This means that you consider this to be your goodness and bliss, and you love it and desire it, and this truly means that you have turned your heart away from God and your Creator and turned to His creation, and you honor this more than your Creator. And when, having despised and abandoned all this, you seek God alone, and you desire to acquire and have Him alone, it means that you honor Him more than all creation, and you find your pleasure in Him, and you place your utmost goodness and bliss in Him. So, according to the word of Christ, “where a person’s treasure is,” “there his heart will also be” (Matthew 6:21), there is his love, there is his thought, there is his desire, that is what he thinks about, cares about and talks about, that is what he seeks. Whoever accepts the honor, wealth and glory of this world and everything contained in it as treasure, he has a heart with its own desire and love. To whom God alone is a treasure, he cleaves to Him alone. O eternal treasure! How precious, priceless, incomparable You are, more desired than the whole world, most amiable, sweetest for the souls who love You! In You they find everything that those who love peace in the world seek. They find everything, but incomparably the best. In You they find wealth, honor, glory, peace, peace, consolation, joy, sweetness, and incomparably greater bliss than the whole world has in itself. Such dear and lofty Good is God, for it is uncreated, ever-present and eternal, from Whom, as from a source, all good flows, whatever is or can be, but is despised and disdained by those who love this world! O poor Christian! You will look for this good someday, but you will not find it if you do not sincerely look for it now. Turn to Him now, and seek Him, and you will find Him! “Seek the Lord and be strong, seek His face always” (Ps. 104:4). “I will hear what the Lord God will say in me, how He will speak peace on His people, and on His saints, and on those who turn their hearts to Him. Thus, His salvation is near to those who fear Him” (Ps. 84:9-10). “What is in heaven for me? And without You, what do I want on earth? My heart and my flesh fail, O God of my heart and my portion, O God, forever. For behold, those who remove themselves from You perish; You have destroyed everyone who commits adultery from You. But it is good for me to be united with God” (Ps. 72:25-28). “I will love You, O Lord, my strength! The Lord is my stronghold and my refuge, my Deliverer, my Helper, in whom I trust; My protector and the horn of my salvation and my intercessor” (Ps. 17:2-3). – How and where should I look for God? Answer: 1) Do not desire or seek anything other than God and His holy will, following the prophet who wanted nothing in heaven or on earth except God: “What do I have in heaven? and without You, what do I want on earth?” And you will seek God. 2) Everywhere and in every place the One who is everywhere is sought and found. Wherever you are and where you live, God is near you, look for Him there. Do you live in the city? God is here, look for him here. Do you live in the countryside? God is here, look for Him here. Do you live in a monastery or in the desert? God is with you, God is there, look for Him there. In a word, wherever you are, God is near you. Look for Him near you as you should, and you will find Him. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20). God Himself wants to come to us and present Himself to us for knowledge! He stands at everyone’s door, and wants to be known to everyone, but few people hear Him knocking on the door, since everyone’s hearing is drowned out by the lusts of sin and the love of the world. And so, having knocked on the door and having found nothing, he leaves the person with nothing. Calm and quiet your mind and heart from carnal lusts and the noise of worldly desires. Turn away from all this and listen to Him alone. Then you will truly know that He stands near you and knocks on the doors of your heart, and you will hear His sweet voice, and you will open the doors to Him. Then he will come into your house and dine with you, and you with Him. Then you will taste and see “how good the Lord is” (Ps. 33:9). Then you too will cry out with love and joy: “The Lord is generous and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in mercy, and true” (Ex. 34:6). And again: “I will love You, O Lord, my strength,” and further. And again: “What’s in heaven for me? And without You, what do I want on earth?” and further. Seek everywhere for Him who is everywhere, and, leaving everything, seek Him alone. And then you will certainly find it. Translation by P. Yungerov – Editorial office of “The ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: