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He [God] himself said: to whom will I look: “to him who is humble and contrite in spirit, and to him who trembles at My word” (Isaiah 66:2). You see that He Himself shows us all the spiritual decorations that can brighten our spiritual well-being! To him who is contrite in spirit, he says, to him who is humble, and then he adds that from which all other virtues come: and to him who trembles at My word. What does this mean: Trembling at My word? This means a person who, in his very deeds, shows obedience to the commandments of God, as it is said elsewhere: “Blessed is the man who always remains in reverence” (Proverbs 28:14). And we, when we see that our servant carries out our orders with great care, with fear and trembling, we show him more favor and favor, and our good Lord will show us much more mercy. That is why He said: “I will look upon him who is humble and contrite in spirit and who trembles at My word.” Let us therefore tremble at His words and fulfill them with all fear. And His words are the commandments given to us from Him. Knowing what pleases Him, what is pleasing, that is what we will do; and let us try to be like that, to show silent obedience, meekness, humility, fulfilling all His commandments with great reverence and fear, so that He, the Lord of all, having accepted the good disposition of our intentions and being pleased with our obedience, would deign to look upon us. If He is pleased to do this, He will bring us into a state of perfect security. “I will look,” He says, “that is, I will honor my care, I will stretch out my hand, I will help in everything, I will pour out my bounty in abundance. Let us, I beg you, do all this so that the Lord will look upon us too, so that we can spend our present life carefree and achieve future blessings (1). To prevent you from sinning, find out what God loves and what he hates. Whom does He love? The One who fulfills His commandments. “I will love him,” He says, “and We will come to him” (John 14:21, 23), not rich, not healthy, but obeying my commands. And whom does He hate and abhor? The one who does not fulfill His commandments. So, when you see someone not fulfilling His commandments, then, even if he was healthy, even if he was surrounded by wealth, consider him among those hated by God; and the virtuous, even if you see him in illness or poverty, count him among His loved ones. His love is not for these, but for these (2). Let us not think that [God’s] commandments are impossible to fulfill; and now many are fulfilling them. If you don’t know this, then there is nothing surprising. And Elijah thought that he was the only one left, but he heard from the Lord: “I have left seven thousand [men] among the Israelites” (1 Kings 19 ^18). From this it is clear that even now there are many who lead the apostolic life, just as there were then three thousand and five thousand who believed. If we do not believe this, it is not because there are no virtuous people, but because we ourselves do too little. One who indulges in drunkenness cannot easily believe that there is any person who does not even drink water, although many of the monks do this before our eyes. The lustful person will not suddenly believe that one can easily maintain virginity; the predator will not soon believe that there are those who willingly give up theirs; Likewise, those people who daily exhaust themselves with countless worries will not soon accept the teaching that one can be free from the worries of life. And that many have fulfilled this teaching, we can prove by the example of those who are so philosophical in our time. But for the first time it will be enough for us if you learn not to covet, consider alms good, and learn what you should give from your property to the poor. If, beloved, you do this, you will soon be able to do this too. So, first of all, let’s abandon unnecessary pomp, let’s adhere to moderation, and let’s learn to acquire everything that we think to receive through righteous labors. So Blessed John, when he talked with tax collectors and soldiers, commanded them to be content with their salaries. Although he wanted to lead them to another, much higher wisdom, but since they were still incapable of this, he offers a lower commandment. If he began to instill the highest commandments, then not only would they not listen to them, but they would not fulfill the lower ones either. Therefore, we occupy you with lower truths; We know that the burden of lack of covetousness exceeds your strength, and as far as heaven is from earth, so much wisdom is from you. So, at least let's keep the last commandments. This is a significant lesson (6). Is there anything difficult in the commandments that exceeds our nature? No, we will not find anything like that in them; We’ll even find the opposite. They are as easy as the vice is difficult. Indeed, what could be more difficult - to give loans, to worry about profits, to conclude deals, to demand guarantees, to fear and tremble for mortgages, for money lent on interest, for receipts, for profits, for keeping promises? Such is everything in life! The most apparently refined foresight in everything is unreliable and fragile. On the contrary, being merciful is easy and frees you from all worries (7). God promises us the Kingdom, and we neglect Him; The devil is preparing Gehenna for us, and we honor him! This is God, and this is the devil! But let's look at the very difference between their commandments. After all, even if none of this had happened, if, that is, it had not been God, and this is the devil, if the former had not prepared the Kingdom for us, and the latter - Gehenna - would not the very nature of their commandments be enough to induce us to be in union with the former? What do both of them command? One is what covers us with shame, and the other is what makes us glorious; one is something that exposes one to countless disasters and disgrace, the other is something that brings great joy. In fact, look: one says: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29); and the other says: be cruel and harsh, angry and irritable, be better a beast than a man. Let's see what is more useful, what is more beneficial. But not only this (keep in mind), but the thought that one of them is the devil. Then, in particular, that which is more useful will be revealed, and the triumph will be greater. After all, it is not the one who gives easy commandments who is careful, but the one who commands useful things. And fathers give painful orders, as do masters to their servants; but that is precisely why some of them are fathers, and others are masters; and the enslavers and destroyers command everything contrary (10). If God had commanded something difficult and impossible, then another could refer to the difficulty of His commandments; if He commands something very easy, then what can we say without worrying about this? Can't you fast and keep your virginity? You can, if you want, as those who did this accuse us of; but God did not use all severity against us, did not command or command this, but left it to the will of the listeners; You can be chaste in marriage, and you can abstain from drunkenness. Can't you give away all your property? You can, as those who have done this show, but God did not command this either, but commanded not to steal someone else’s property and to give from your property to those in need. If anyone says that he cannot be content with one wife, he is seducing and deceiving himself, as those who remain chaste even without a wife accuse him of. Can't you help but slander, can't help but swear? On the contrary, it is more difficult to do it than not to do it. What excuse do we have when we don’t do something so easy and convenient? We cannot imagine any (12). You might be interested in: