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“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves (visible and invisible) break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break through and steal” (Matthew 6:19, 20) - words of wisdom and all-joyfulness, which should always be remembered and meditated on and which perform by deed. We are all guilty of being accustomed to seeking and acquiring and hiding our treasures on earth, and not in Heaven. The construction of magnificent, sometimes unnecessary houses, the accumulation of wealth and addiction to them, greed, stinginess, cruelty towards the poor, addiction to the female sex, to decorations, earthly distinctions, advantages, ranks often occupy all our thoughts and tie us exclusively to the earth, to decay, and we forget about the honor of a high title and about heavenly gifts and blessings: “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and it did not enter into the heart of man” (1 Cor. 2:9), - we forget that we are included in the number of heavenly citizens by Baptism and the seal of the Holy Spirit and for residence in Heaven (3). Raise me from aphids, God. We all suffer in different ways from corruption, from choking passions, but we are negligent of God’s love, cold towards our Creator and Benefactor. We strive to get rich materially with all our might, but we are not rich in God, we are begging. Some people have a lot, a lot of money and all kinds of wealth, but there is no God in their heart at all. There is a lot of envy of other people's goods and possessions, but there is no sincere goodwill. The Lord gives you all of Himself as your inheritance, man, His entire being, Divine and human, most pure, incorruptible, immortal, all-righteous, all-blessed, all-wise. Why don’t you accept such inexhaustible, imperishable wealth, why do you run from it, chasing after the perishable, after the dust, after the soapy disappearing bubbles? Why do you impose cruel bonds on yourself? Come into yourself, look around, look around! (3) He collects treasure (earthly), but does not know for whom he is collecting it (Ps. 38:7), says the prophet David. The pitiful state of the rich man's soul. “Who will get what you have prepared?” (Luke 12:20), says the Lord to the rich man in the parable. Terrible condition! He prepared untold wealth, but lost God and his soul and prepared it for eternal torment. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me, taking up the cross (Mark 10:21), says the Lord to the rich young man” (4). Remember the words of the Savior about the rich, how difficult it is for them, who trust in wealth, to enter the Kingdom of God (Mark 10:23) and that their lot is eternal torment for their attachment to wealth and for their hardness of heart towards the poor, for they depart from Christ with sadness when they are offered to sell their property and give it to the poor, for whom they do not care. In general, the rich are pitiful as those who have perverted their nature, as those who have become savage and who place their life not in God, but in the abundance of acquisitions, ready to take off the poor man’s last shirt. Our wealth is God and His truth and mercy (4). Lord, what wealth have you given to man! You gave Yourself, all the grace of the Holy Spirit, the future Kingdom with its eternal blessings and joys, but earthly wealth and attachment to it deprives a person of God and eternal life, it is the enemy of man. Think about it according to Christ and the apostolic teaching and the example of the saints, how they looked at earthly wealth, how they voluntarily abandoned it, how they despised it, considered it as rubbish, as a great obstacle to the love of God and the salvation of the soul. Is spiritual wealth still not enough for you? After all, God Himself gave you all of Himself, gave Himself to those who fear Him (Ps. 110:5); and you listen to the flattery of the enemy and envy the rich, who are getting richer and losing money from day to day - Who? The Lord Himself (4). Two bellies, two lives are intended for God’s chosen people - temporary earthly and eternal heavenly. This life was given to us independently of us, the future life without us, without our faith and desire, without good deeds cannot be given to anyone, we must firmly and constantly believe in the future resurrection of the dead and in the future endless life, we need to educate ourselves for it, stock up on the oil of good deeds and alms, “for the merciful... will receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7). Therefore, the Lord and the Gospel pointed out to the rich young man, who wanted to know about the path to the Kingdom of God, to give alms, and generous ones at that, and the word about distributing property to the poor and eternal life seemed inconceivable to the young man, and he left the heavenly Teacher with sadness in his heart. The Lord said on this occasion that “it is difficult for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God” (Mark 10:23), for it is impossible to make hope in soulless wealth and earthly happiness their goal, and not the heavenly fatherland, not poverty of spirit. For me, instead of all the riches, honors, beauties and earthly sweets, Christ God is the true, eternal, inalienable wealth, says the faithful Christian. Truly a treasure for a believer and devotee. “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21) (4). Learn from the saints how they labored, how they used every effort on themselves, what selflessness they had, what dispassion for wealth, for worldly honor and glory, for carnal pleasures, what abstinence they had, what zeal for God, what constant prayer, what work, what virtues! And how faithfully they reached the Kingdom of God (4). “If you have not been faithful in what belongs to others, who will give you what is yours?” (cf. Luke 16:12). Someone else's property is earthly wealth, earthly positions, earthly body, health, which we did not know how and did not want to use according to God's instructions as transitory and temporary. Our true wealth is our soul, rich in the image and likeness of God, rational free will, immortality, the ability to love God and neighbor, repent, pray, thank and glorify God. This is our property - the soul, created in the image of God, which we have made alien to God due to our worldly passions. The holy saints were faithful to God even in the possessions of others, squandering them on the poor, and they used their own - their souls - in the proper way, purifying it with prayers and tears of repentance, the labors of vigil and fasting, and suffering for Christ. So, let us be faithful to God both in external and in internal property, or in someone else’s and in our own. Ours is the soul given to us by God for Christian education, for restoration of the image of God, for likeness to God and endless bliss (4). The Lord gave me the greatest, inalienable wealth - His image and likeness, He gave me Himself, as it is said: “he gave... an inheritance to those who fear Your name” (Ps. 60:6)! What earthly wealth do I need after this? There is no greater honor than to be a Christian and a member of Christ, a child of God in Christ. There is no one richer than the person who always carries Christ and His grace in His heart. What exists in heaven for me? and without You, what do I want on earth? My heart and my flesh are faint. God of my heart and my portion, God, forever! (Ps. 73:25, 26). And we are greedy, we collect, we skimp, we are proud, we envy. What a delusion and nonsense! Man, be rich in God: everything comes to you from God (7). What is a person's true wealth? In the image and likeness of God, and not in lands, not in money, not in various kinds of earthly knowledge and arts, or in various kinds of property, not in a multitude of servants, not in a multitude of clothes, or earthly goods in general, for all this is perishable and temporary, but the soul - the image of God - is eternal, and its wealth is virtue, holiness, humility, kindness, abstinence in everything, faith, hope and love (7). How and when should we take care of the imperishable garment of the soul: meekness, truth, chastity, patience, mercy, when all our worries, cares and resources are directed towards the perishable garment and adornment of the body? It is impossible for two masters to work, for the soul is simple and united. How and when should we take care of the spiritual wealth of good deeds, when we are greedy only for perishable wealth and collect it with all our might and means, when our hearts are attached to money, to the world, and not to God? How and when should we take care of incorruptible, spiritual food, the drink of grace - about prayer, reading the Word of God, the writings and lives of the holy fathers, about communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord, when we do not let out of our mouths food and drink and this stupefying lit and smoking potion and smoke, so sweet for many? How can the soul leap with the Holy Spirit when we are constantly busy with earthly, vain games and amusements! Oh, the destructive work of corruption, which takes us away from imperishable, true, eternal life! (7) is more valuable than the whole world, and if you destroy me, you cannot redeem me with anything, for what will a man give in ransom for his soul? What good will it do you if you gain the whole world, if you become the world's richest man, but lose or destroy your soul (see Matthew 16:26)? Take care of my endless bliss, purchased for me by the merits of the Only Begotten Son of God; do not despise such a high price given to the Heavenly Father as a ransom for me, do not sell me for silver to the devil into eternal bondage and the eternal torment prepared for him.” So the soul cries out, but passion for earthly things drowns out the voice of the soul, and the rich man sells it every day, exchanging his priceless soul for perishable wealth (9). The Lord teaches us to renounce our hearts from earthly treasures and from earthly passions and encourages us to desire and seek heavenly treasures, firstly, because our souls are of heavenly origin and immortal, and earthly blessings, as rough, corruptible and transitory, are not worthy of us, created and redeemed by the Blood of the Son of God for the enjoyment of spiritual and eternal blessings, and secondly, because, clinging with our hearts to earthly goods, through this we make them earthly, rude, low, passionate, and ourselves - incapable of loving God and our neighbor, while love is the main goal and duty of our life. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves (visible and invisible) break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break through and steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). St. John Chrysostom talks about it this way: it will be a great harm to you if you cling to earthly things, become a slave instead of a free one, fall away from heavenly things, and be unable to think about heavenly things, but only about money, about interest, about debts, about profits and vile greed. What could be worse than this? Such a person falls into slavery, the worst slavery of any slave, and, what is most disastrous of all, arbitrarily rejects the nobility and freedom inherent in man. No matter how much I talk to you, but you, having a mind nailed to wealth, cannot hear anything useful and necessary for you... for where your treasure is, there is your heart... But if you place treasure through alms in heaven, you will not only be awarded heavenly honors for this, but you will also receive a reward here, ascending to heaven, thinking and caring about heavenly things. For it is obvious that you will transfer your mind there too, where you will place your treasure; on the contrary, you will experience the completely opposite when you place your treasure on the ground (12). You might be interested in: