Pay Attention to Your Eternity
The human being has one life, one soul. If he gains it, he gains everything. And if he loses it, he loses everything… and the whole world is not equal to it. Therefore, the Lord Christ said His immortal saying:
“For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26).
Everything in the world is temporary and passing; it must come to an end after a while, whatever its value may be. A person must leave it when he leaves this world. And how profound is that phrase spoken by the righteous Job (Job 1:21):
“Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there.”
And perhaps with me, you recite these two lines:
I entered the universe naked, owning no possession or wealth therein,
And I shall depart naked from all that the mind gathered in ignorance and acquired.
Therefore, the wise person never cares at all for the temporary temptations of the world, which he must surely leave. Rather, he cares for the everlasting eternal things. He places before him the saying of Saint Paul the Apostle:
“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:18).
So, to what do you look? And what occupies your heart?
What is it that takes hold of all your concerns and thoughts, of all the feelings of your heart, and occupies your time, energies, and efforts? Care, my brother, for your eternity, and place it always before your eyes.
Place before you the fearful Day of Judgment, the day you stand before God, and your works, thoughts, and secrets stand exposed before all.
What will be your condition in that hour? And what will your feeling be? And will you be able to escape or hide your face on the day when the books are opened and intentions, inner depths, and secrets are revealed?
If you forget anything of this, the Church reminds you of this truth in many of the daily prayers: in the Prayer of Sleep, in the Veil Prayer, and in the Midnight Prayers. She points to this in the last absolutions of Vespers.
If you pray these prayers, you would remember—in the Prayer of Sleep:
“Behold, I am about to stand before the just Judge…”
And also: “If life were enduring, and this world everlasting, then you, O my soul, would have a clear excuse! But if your evil deeds are exposed… before the just Judge, what answer will you give…?”
Also, the lives of the saints and their sayings can remind you of eternity:
The great Saint Arsenius, the teacher of the sons of kings, said at the hour of his death: The fear of this hour has been with me since I entered monasticism.
And one of the saints spoke of three things that frighten him, which he places before him, and said:
“I fear three things: the hour my soul leaves my body, the hour of my standing before the throne of the just God, and the hour the judgment is pronounced upon me.”
Therefore, care for your eternity. Place that before you in every work you do, in every thought that crosses your mind, and in every feeling that comes into your heart… and remember that hour in which you stand before God and before all people, exposed.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Year 33 – Issues 5, 6 (11-2-2005 A.D.)
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