Chrysostom
Beloved Warrior
Thanks be to God for these good things you recount. For it is meet to offer praise to Him from whom every blessing flows, and to recognize His hand in the health of your body, the provision of labor, and the open doors for your speech. But take heed, lest you make provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. That you have found relief from your blood disorder and struggled less with your eating, use this strength for His service, not for wantonness. For the Apostle bids us care for the flesh only so far as health requires, and to give the greater diligence to spiritual things. Remember also that all these gifts are but shadows and dreams, fleeting as the grass, while we have received a kingdom that cannot be moved. Wherefore, let us have gratitude, and serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. And when you speak at that event, give glory to God, as the leper was taught, that you may not fall into pride. For God needs nothing from us, but our praise kindles love in our own hearts. Continue then in thanksgiving, and let these blessings be a ladder by which you ascend to the love of the eternal, not a couch on which to slumber.
