Time is the currency with which we
acquire eternity. The ancients would say,
“time is money.” Indeed, time is a
currency of incalculable value. We do not need even one dollar to purchase
eternity; all we need is one minute.
How did the thief on the cross
acquire Paradise? He did so with one minute. Actually, it took him less than a
minute to confess Jesus Christ, to seek His mercy, and to utter with sincere
repentance, “Remember me, O Lord, in Your Kingdom.” This is why the Apostle
Paul exclaims, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
redeeming the time, because the days are evil”(Eph. 5:15-16).
Behold, the greatest purchase of all time! Let
us rush to acquire Paradise. We have the means. It will be the best investment
of our life, because
Paradise is forever. Ioasaf, who went
on to become a saint of our Orthodox Church, was the son of the King of India.
Saint Barlaam instructed him in the Christian faith and baptized him. One of
the many things Righteous Barlaam taught him was the following: “In a certain
land, the citizens had the custom of electing as their king a foreigner who
would come to visit their city. The unsuspecting visitor would accept their
offer because he was unaware of their customs and practices. They would crown
the visitor and enthrone him king for a certain period of time, only to
dethrone him a short time later without a warning and exile him to a desolate
region. Since they never revealed to the stranger that within six months to a
year they would strip him of his regal title and send him into exile, the
visitor ruled the land assuming that he
would reign forever, until the end of his life. The thought of exile would
never even cross his mind, and, unmindful of the citizens’intent to banish him,
he never prepared for such a calamity. During one such trip to the
city by a particular visitor, a good and virtuous citizen who saw the foreigner
approached him and told him in secret, “My fellow countrymen who dwell in this
city are planning to make you a king. You should realize, however, that after a
short period of time they will exile you. So, now when you become king and
while you have all the goods accessible to you, see to it that you send food, provisions,
and other useful items to that deserted region, so that when they banish you to
that land you will have them there waiting for you, and you will be able to
live comfortably.”
“Oh! Thank you very much for telling
me,” replied the guest.
Indeed, by following the advice of
that good citizen, this man sent an abundance of provisions to the land of
exile. And so, when the time came and the citizens banished him, he went their
gladly and henceforth lived comfortably, because he had sent many goods there
beforehand.
“Similarly,” explained St. Barlaam to
Ioasaph, “Man comes into this present life, and, fooled by the world, he
believes that he will reign and live many years; death, however, appears
unexpectedly and sends him to eternity.
The Church, as another good citizen,
comes to advise man and points out to him, “Look, you are not going to be here
very long. You will depart for the next life which is eternal.
Make sure, now that you are here and
capable, to do good works and send them there to the next life. Thus, when you
die and the world ejects you from the earth, you will find these items there.
God will repay you thousand times over, and you will henceforth live joyfully.”
The time of our present life is the
opportunity to sow. Eternity is the time of harvest. Tell me what you sow, and
I will tell you what you will reap.
Do you sow faith, love, and tears of
effort and repentance? You will reap the joy of eternal Paradise. The Lord
confirms this:
“You shall receive a hundredfold, and
inherit eternal life”(Mt. 19:29). St. Paul also emphasizes this in his epistle
to the Corinthians:
“For our light affliction, which is
but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of
glory”
(2Cor. 4:17).
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