Care for Your Eternity

 

 

A human has one life, one soul. If he wins it, he wins

everything. And if he loses it, he loses everything… And the whole world is of no value compared to

it. Therefore, the Lord Christ said his eternal statement:

 

“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

Or what will a man give in

exchange for his soul?” (Mt

16:26).

All what is in the world is

temporary and vanishing and

definitely will end after a while

regardless of its value. Definitely

the human will leave it when he

leaves this world. And how deep is

the statement said by the Virtuous

Job (Job 1:21):

“Naked I came from my

mother's womb, And naked

shall I return there.”

And may you chant with me

these two verse lines:

I came into the world naked

That I own no property or

riches

And I will leave naked from all

What the mind gathered in

ignorance and owned

Therefore, the wise person

never cares the world’s temporary

temptations which will he definitely

leave. But he cares for permanent

eternals. And he puts in front of

his eyes the saying of St Paul the

Apostle:

“While we do not look at

the things which are seen, but

at the things which are not

seen. For the things which are

seen are temporary, but the

things which are not seen are

eternal.” (2 Co 4:18).

So which things are you

looking at? And what is it that is

making your heart busy?

What is it that is taking all your

interests and thinking, all your

heart feelings and all your time

energy and effort?

Care for your eternity my

brother and make it always in front

of your eyes.

Put in front of you the

frightful Judgment Day, the day

on which you stand before God

and all your works, thoughts

and secrets become revealed in

front of all.

What will be your state in this

hour? How will you feel? Will you

be able to run away or hide your

face in the day on which books will

be open and intentions, internals

and secrets will be revealed?

If you are forgetting any of

this, the church reminds you of

this truth in many of the daily

prayers: In the Retiring Prayer, in

the Veil Prayer and in Midnight

Prayers. And it points to this in the

last piece of the Sunset Prayer.

If you pray these prayers you

would have remembered.

In the Retiring Prayer we say:

“Behold, I am about to

stand before the Just Judge...”

Also “If life were everlasting,

and this world ever-existing, you

would have an excuse, O my soul.

But if your wicked deeds… were

exposed before the Just Judge,

what answer would you give…?”

Also saints’ life stories and

their sayings can remind you of

the eternal life:

Saint Arsanious the great, the

Teacher of Sons of Kings, said on

his death time: The fear or this

hour has been accompanying me

since I came into monasticism.

And one of the saints talked

about three things that scare him

that he puts before him and said:

I fear three things which

are: the time my soul leaves

my body, the time I stand

before the Pillar of the Just God

and the time the Judgment

comes on me.

So care for your eternity. And

put this in front of you in every

action you do, in every thought

crosses your mind and in every

feeling comes to your heart…

And remember this time on

which you will stand before God

and all people revealed.