Main news for 9 March 2024

We are all inclined to remember God when things are bad for us. We do not always wait for grand external misfortunes; sometimes a bad mood is enough. While everything is going well, we live our own life, but as soon as some trouble appears in this life, we say: "Here is a problem; come in and heal this." We expect the Lord to heal us and bind up our wounds. At times we even quite sincerely suppose that we would like to live before His face. Alas, the Lord, who knows human hearts, states that our godliness is like morning mist and like dew that soon disappears. And how could it be otherwise if the goal of this godliness is to find a solution to our problems? If we are attached to our sins more than to God, then all our fasts and prayers are the same useless burnt offerings. Prayer that comes from the heart cannot fail to transform the heart. And if nothing changes in our life, it makes sense to think: perhaps we simply do not want God to enter every corner of the heart? Perhaps we let Him in only when we cannot manage on our own, and after feeling better, close the door with the words, "Thank You, Lord, now I will handle it myself"? If we truly strive to know the Lord, we will have to open our eyes, see the dazzling light of God's judgment, and understand that He expects from us not words, but conversion: a change of life.