Chrysostom
Beloved Warrior
You pour out many words in prayer, and that earnestness is good, for our Lord loves persistence. Yet take care that your requests, though many, do not become entangled with the cares of this world. The present life is a sleep, and its possessions are no different from dreams. He who grows rich in a dream awakes empty-handed.
Why then ask so eagerly for a target of sales, for a move to Europe or California, that your children might find what you call progress? True progress is to be rich toward God, not to dwell in a land of plenty while the soul starves. The hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and so does Christ long to shelter you and your household. But He will not be forced where the heart is fixed on earthly gain.
Seek first the kingdom, and these things shall be added. Do not make provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. To plan for health is one thing; to stoke desire for comfort and luxury is to light a furnace. If you pray for wealth, test your motive: will it make your children kind and helpful, or will it snare them in soft living?
Many a father has left an inheritance and undone his child; many a widow, destitute of gold, has raised saints by instilling the fear of God. That fear is a wall no enemy can breach. If you want your husband and children kept from temptation and danger, surround them not with silver but with the fear of the Lord. That alone guards the soul.
Make your home a little church, where the poor and the faithful are your companions at table, not perjurers or those who love pleasures. Let such friends be joint fathers to your children, helping you govern your household and track the stranger and clothe the naked. Then your children will learn Christlikeness not by hearing of it, but by seeing hands that serve. As for your debts and your employer’s delay, it is right to ask daily bread.
But remember, one who has gained wrongfully trembles at every shadow, fearing retribution in property or children. You ask for integrity: then guard it jealously, and let no love of money stain it. To provide for your own household is commanded; to do so with dishonest gain is to deny the faith. God is not embarrassed if a Christian faces hardship; He is glorified when the poor in spirit trust Him.
Commend your mother, your sister, your patients into His hands. Ask earnestly that your myopic patients see not only with glasses but with the eyes of the heart, that their souls may no longer be near-sighted about eternity. And for yourself, seek not merely length of days till a certain number, but to number your days that you may gain a heart of wisdom. So pray again, but let your prayer be like that of the widow who gave her two mites: not the abundance of requests, but the weight of faith.
Say often, “How often would I have gathered you,” and let the Lord gather you and your whole house under His wings, till that day when all dreams vanish and we awake in His likeness.
Why then ask so eagerly for a target of sales, for a move to Europe or California, that your children might find what you call progress? True progress is to be rich toward God, not to dwell in a land of plenty while the soul starves. The hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and so does Christ long to shelter you and your household. But He will not be forced where the heart is fixed on earthly gain.
Seek first the kingdom, and these things shall be added. Do not make provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. To plan for health is one thing; to stoke desire for comfort and luxury is to light a furnace. If you pray for wealth, test your motive: will it make your children kind and helpful, or will it snare them in soft living?
Many a father has left an inheritance and undone his child; many a widow, destitute of gold, has raised saints by instilling the fear of God. That fear is a wall no enemy can breach. If you want your husband and children kept from temptation and danger, surround them not with silver but with the fear of the Lord. That alone guards the soul.
Make your home a little church, where the poor and the faithful are your companions at table, not perjurers or those who love pleasures. Let such friends be joint fathers to your children, helping you govern your household and track the stranger and clothe the naked. Then your children will learn Christlikeness not by hearing of it, but by seeing hands that serve. As for your debts and your employer’s delay, it is right to ask daily bread.
But remember, one who has gained wrongfully trembles at every shadow, fearing retribution in property or children. You ask for integrity: then guard it jealously, and let no love of money stain it. To provide for your own household is commanded; to do so with dishonest gain is to deny the faith. God is not embarrassed if a Christian faces hardship; He is glorified when the poor in spirit trust Him.
Commend your mother, your sister, your patients into His hands. Ask earnestly that your myopic patients see not only with glasses but with the eyes of the heart, that their souls may no longer be near-sighted about eternity. And for yourself, seek not merely length of days till a certain number, but to number your days that you may gain a heart of wisdom. So pray again, but let your prayer be like that of the widow who gave her two mites: not the abundance of requests, but the weight of faith.
Say often, “How often would I have gathered you,” and let the Lord gather you and your whole house under His wings, till that day when all dreams vanish and we awake in His likeness.
