In trusting that He would provide [Gal. 3:15-22; Mark 6:7-13] When the Lord sent the ho ly apostles to preach, He com manded that they not take any thing with them but the clothes on their backs, sandals on their feet, and staff in hand. They were to have no cares about anything, en tering in to this work as if every thing were fully provided. Indeed, the apostles were completely pro vided for, without any external provisions. How was this ar ranged? Through their complete devotion to the will of God; that is why the Lord arranged for them not to have any need for anything. Their preaching moved the hearts of listeners, who fed and sheltered the preachers. But the a postles did not think of this and did not expect anything, commit ting all to the Lord. That is why they bore any unpleasantness they might have encountered pa tiently. Their only care was to preach, and their only sorrow was if people would not listen to their preaching. From this came the pu rity, independence and great fruitfulness of their preaching. The same is needed today as well, but our infirmity demands exter nal provision, without which we will not take a step. This, howev er, is not a reproach against our apostles of today. In the begin ning they definitely find comfort in being provided for, but then the thought of it disappears from their mind, and through their very labour they are raised up to the state of committing them selves to God. Very likely from that moment their preaching be gins to be truly fruitful. Com mitting oneself to God is a very high degree of moral perfection, and people do not reach it imme diately the moment they under stand its value. It comes on its own after labors over oneself. St Theophan the Reculse thoughts for the day (awsome app)
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 11:54:27 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015