ДЕНЬГИ

According to the concepts of the world, those who have a lot or all have a lot of money, land, and various property that serve not only the conveniences and benefits of earthly life, but also its various pleasures. For money they can get everything and have everything. According to the concept of Heaven, such people have nothing, because “what is it good for a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his own soul” (Matthew 16:26). And the rich of the world almost inevitably always neglect their souls, for which no ransom can be given (2). Sweets and money are worse than ordinary dust, rubbish, because they litter the soul, while ordinary rubbish litters only the body, clothes, and room. Oh, how one must despise sweets and money, and even clothes! (6). Maintain a meek and peaceful disposition towards your brother even when he insidiously or cunningly or somehow unintentionally deprives you of your last asset. This is where you show that you love the image of God in your neighbor more than anything earthly and perishable, that your love never ceases (1 Cor. 13:8). “Do not demand back from the one who took what is yours” (Luke 6:30); “Whoever wants to sue you and take your shirt, give him your outer garment too” (Matthew 5:40). May the enemy not put you to shame by trusting in the dust of the earth, such as money and bread, more than on God, but may he himself be put to shame by your strong trust in God and His holy word. For “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Note: “with every word.” For every word of the Lord Creator can support your life, just as every word can create and transform thousands of creatures. For He spoke, and it was, He commanded, and it was created (Ps. 32:9). Thus, with a word, He brought from non-existence into existence myriads of heavenly, immortal armies and, sanctifying them with the Holy Spirit, strengthens and supports them in existence. Do not foolishly lower the dignity of your immortal spirit to the vain hope of the dust of the earth. Say: God is my hope, or: “My hope is the Father, my refuge is the Son, my protection is the Holy Spirit - the Holy Trinity.” And how many of us get irritated and lose our temper when they are deprived not of their last ruble, but only of some small part of their far from last property! How much indignation, anger, bile, bitter reproaches, grumbling, and sometimes curses! Righteous God, and this dust called money, or these food and drinks can create such a storm in our Christian souls, in us, when we know the word of our Sweetest Savior: “Do not worry about your soul, what you will eat and what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will wear... Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and your Father in heaven feeds them... Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:25, 26, 33). Or: “a person’s life does not depend on the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). My God, what have we come to? How are we better than the pagans given our way of life! Where is our faith, trust in God, love for our neighbor? Oh, satanic arrogance! Oh, our shame! Heavenly Father! You, who guide what we need and give before our petition (cf. Matt. 6:8), have mercy on us, unfaithful, ungrateful and evil-willed! We hear Your merciful word, Master: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5), but, seduced daily by earthly blessings, we disobey it and violate Your will (6). “That they all may be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us” (John 17:21). What separates us both from God and from each other? Money, food and drink - this dust, this decay, pus. Why? Because there is no living Christian hope in God. We do not know or forget that the true life of a person is love for God and neighbor. By laying down our lives in the dust and relying on it, we do not give the Heavenly Father the appropriate glory by placing all our hope and all our sorrow on Him, as should His faithful children in Christ. “If I am the father, then where is the respect for Me?” ( Mal. 1:6 ). Where is your hope in Me? Where is your love for Me? Where is the impartiality towards the earthly, perishable and the all-soul desire for the heavenly, spiritual, eternal (6)? Do not trust in piles of money, but in God, who constantly cares for everyone, and especially for His rational and verbal creatures, and especially for those who live piously. Believe that His hand will not fail, especially for those who give alms, for man cannot be more generous than God. The proof of this is your own life and the lives of all former people who gave alms. Let God alone be the treasure of your heart; cleave to Him completely, as created in His image and likeness, and flee from the earthly aphids, which constantly corrupt our souls and bodies. Hurry to eternal life, to life that does not grow old for endless centuries, draw everyone there as much as you can (7). Greedy, greedy miser! Did money or bread give you life? Isn't it God? Was it not His word that gave existence and life to you and to all other creatures? Is it not the Son of God who holds up all things by the word of his power (Heb. 1:3)? Is your life supported by money and bread, water and wine alone? Is it not by every word that comes from the mouth of God that a person lives (see Matt. 4:4)? Isn't money and bread dust? Isn't it just the least amount of bread we need to support our lives? Everything was created by the word and is maintained. The Word is the source of life and its storage (7). Our soul is a simple being, therefore it cannot at the same time love both God and, for example, money, food, drink, or our neighbor and money, food and drink together; That’s why it is said: “No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate one and love the other; or he will be zealous for one and neglectful of the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). That is why the psalmist says by the Holy Spirit: if wealth flows in, do not put your heart on it (Ps. 61:11). So, every Christian should be afraid to attach his heart to money, food, drink, elegant clothes, an elegant apartment, books, secular music; Yes, you do not love, do not caress your flesh with anything: whether with amusements, elegant views, food and drinks, sleep, idleness and laziness, shameful deeds, games, idle travel, empty books and shows. Love the one God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your thoughts and your neighbor as yourself, and be indifferent to everything else in the world, partial to anything and greedy. Be zealous for simplicity in everything, so that you will be loved by a simple Being - God. Take away guile, doubt, lack of faith and double-mindedness from your soul (7). Don’t worry about money: if you need it, God will pour it out to you like manna or bring it to you like quails. “The earth is the Lord’s, and the things that fill it, the world and all who live on it” (Ps. 23:1). Seek first the Kingdom of God, the salvation of men, their establishment in the faith, the correction of their morals; establish your faith, purify your heart, carry out your title conscientiously, carefully correct all your duties, and everything - money, food, clothing, etc. - will be added to you (7). There is a saying among people that money does not interfere, no matter how much we have. Not true. They greatly prevent our soul from ascending to grief or philosophizing about the heavenly fatherland, and the more of them, the more they pull our soul to the earth and encourage it to do various earthly undertakings: buildings, rich decorations in the home, rich clothes, luxurious food and drink - and thus take away both holy zeal and precious time from our soul, which here must redeem itself for eternal bliss (7). Don't put your heart into money: let it be spent. Let decay, dust remain what it is. Let the eternal soul occupy itself with the eternal (10). You might be interested in: