Saturday, December 2 (November 19), 2023
Gal. 3:8-12; Lk. 9:57-62                                           

“No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” [Lk. 9:62].  That is to say, if anyone is concerned with his salvation, being at the same time mindful of things he has to sacrifice for that, it means that he is on the wrong track, not on the course to the Kingdom of Heaven, and will not find salvation.

We have to forgo, conclusively and irrevocably, everything which is incompatible with our goal ─ the eternal life.  Most of those who have decided to pursue Christian life understand this, but delay parting with some of their attachments until tomorrow.  Cutting off all ties and bindings at once ─ it seems to them too great a sacrifice.  They would prefer to do that little by little, with no defiance of the society, and nearly always lose.  Willing to change the course of their lives towards salvation, they are unwilling to change the attitude of their hearts.

At first this disparity is glaring; but the endless litany “I will surely get started tomorrow” helps dull it.  The habit of procrastination grows stronger; conscience gets tired of repeating the same thing over and over again and finally shuts up.  An idea begins developing that it might not be worth changing at all, that it would be just OK to leave everything as is…

Such ideas infest one’s mind and get firmly rooted there. As the result, one has a Christian appearance while his heart is rotten deep inside.  This is a whited sepulchre [Mt. 23:27] before the eyes of the Lord.  Worst of all, the conversion for such people could be even more difficult than for open remorseless sinners ─ and nonetheless the problem is ignored.

Read more about the author