Have you been crucified with Christ? [Gal. 2:20] What exactly does that mean for us here in 2020? St. Theophan tells us: “True, one may know man’s final goal: communion with God. And one may describe the path to it: faith, and walking in the commandments, with the aid of divine grace. One need only say in addition: here is the path-start walking!” St. Theophan The Recluse, The Path to Salvation: A Manual of Spiritual Transformation
Many folks today say they are Christian and yet they fail to regularly attend church (there is usually something more important preventing them from attending), they fail to set aside their first fruit as their tithe (bills, bills, and more bills), they allow their selfishness to navigate their lives (excuses, excuses, excuses), and they always promise to make great strides next week, month or year and get back on the narrow path (tic-tock, tic-tock). They waste their breath slobbering out empty words while lying through their teeth! Simply put, you are either here or you’re not.
I wish I knew what I could do to help people commit to a more righteous path for their salvation. I wish I had an evident cure for anything and everything that is keeping people away from living the true faith! I wish my poor, poor prayers could heal everyone and give them a bountiful life, but it takes cooperation. Unlike many folks in the West, the true teaching of our salvation is faith and works! You need to attend the meetings; it is a step process as we ascend the Divine Ladder! There are no shortcuts! You are either here, or you’re not!
That towering ant hill we are building in all of our busyness is going to be flattened by the big footprint of life, it just won’t matter! Our existence here is temporary! What really matters is our soul! Where will it reside when it leaves our body? Will you be prepared for Judgment Day? We are not God, He is! We need to wipe that slobbering excuse off our face and get busy, our afterlife depends on it!
Our combination of faith and action helps mold us into being myrrhbearers. Salivation would be extremely hard existing in this world without the supportive structure of the church. There are too many temptations and heartaches in life to be separated from the support of the church. She needs you and you need her. This is a place where broken wounded people come for healing. Which path are you on? You are either here, or you’re not!
“I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live, but Christ liveth in me; and the life that I now live in the flesh I live in faith, in that of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me. [Gal. 2:20]
