The secret of good and unhindered success lies in what you will seek first, what work will go ahead of other things, will take precedence among all things, will dominate your thoughts, desires and aspirations, or, as one of the ancient Fathers put it, what will be your work and what will be your work[82]. If you seek first of all the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, if the work of the salvation of your soul by grace and faith, purification by the commandments, perfection of virtues will take precedence among all your other grandfathers, if you will dominate in your thoughts, desires and aspirations, if you will consider this only a true and important deed, and all earthly affairs only a work, a secondary occupation, unimportant, to whom a certain part of attention is given after the main work, then earthly affairs will not be an obstacle to your heavenly work, you can hope to find the Kingdom of God, which is most sought after all, and meanwhile you will not lack even that which you care less about, in what is necessary for earthly life according to the faithful promise of the Lord: all this will be added to you. On the contrary, if you think that you must first provide for yourself in earthly and worldly affairs and only then take care of heavenly things, if some earthly occupation with science, art, art, industry, the search for benefits, splendor and pleasures of life has become your primary thought, your dominant desire, your work of superiority, and the work of piety remains with you only a business, a matter of leisure from worldly occupations, - then you have changed the order prescribed by the word of the Lord; you are not on the path to finding the Kingdom of God, and in order to provide yourselves with earthly goods, I do not know where you can base your hope, because the Lord's promise does not apply to you: "All this shall be added unto you."

And now, brethren, it seems, a small instrument of great testing of the heart (Judg. 5:16). An important tool of self-examination is a small question: what is in your mind and heart first and foremost? When you wake up in the morning, what is your first thought? Does your heart say, "Glory to God who has shown the light"? Or, "Lord, bless my day"? If so, it is a sign for good. But if, together with your awakening, the thought and concern for some earthly matter to which you are addicted awakens and carries you away, and does not allow you to remember God and rejoice (Psalm 76:4), then I fear for you, my brother: it is doubtful whether you seek the Kingdom of God first of all. If you are standing in church, and your thought goes to your house, or to your workhouse, or to your marketplace, or to a place of amusement, is this not a sign that your thought, which runs away from God, is stronger than the thought that runs to God? Hasten to bring back the fugitive and unite your mind and heart in striving for God.

In this and similar ways, let each of us examine our inner disposition often and diligently, and let us not stiffly tear our thoughts and hearts away from our passionate attachment to earthly worldly things, so that our heart may be established in the Lord, so that the Kingdom of God may be a constant, never lost sight of the goal of our striving.

For from the Lord a man's feet are straightened (Psalm 36:23). Thou, O Lord, Thou hast brought back the captivity of Zion from Babylon, restore the captivity of our souls from the prevailing vanity of the world, and instruct us even unto the heavenly Jerusalem, where Thou reignest in glory, and those who have reached thither reign with Thee forever. Amen.

Homily on the Day of the Uncovering of the Relics of St. Sergius (1852) (On the Remembrance of God[83]). Spoken at the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius on July 5, 1852[84]

Remember the Lord your God Deut. 8,18

Reverently commemorating our venerable and God-bearing Father Sergius, we fulfill the commandment of the Apostle: "Remember ye your leaders" (Heb. 13:7). This apostolic commandment brings to mind the prophetic commandment: Remember the Lord thy God. And this is not for one subservience, but for a more significant reason. The pious memory of the saints is a branch, the root of which should be reverent remembrance of God, just as the grace of the saints is a sprout from the life-giving root of God's power, or a ray from the inaccurate Light of God. In order for the branch to be green, blossom and bear fruit, a living root is needed for this. Thus, in order for the memory of the saints to be beneficial, it is necessary that a living remembrance of God be implanted in the heart.

Thus, we will not deviate from the subject of the present celebration, but will still serve it, if we enter into some reflections on the commandment: Remember the Lord thy God.

This commandment was offered to the people of God by the Prophet Moses in a great sermon, which he pronounced to them at the end of his prophetic and legislative ministry and inscribed in the book of Deuteronomy. "Hear, O Israel," said the prophet, "thou hast traversed the memorable course of forty years' pilgrimage under the direct guidance of God; The time is coming in which you will have to justify the guidance given to you by being able to guide yourself. In the promised land, do not bring down your bread with poverty (Deuteronomy 8:9), and you will eat and be satisfied (10) - how will you make use of real prosperity? Remember all the way, which the Lord thy God hath shown thee (2). The dangers through which you have passed, the difficulties you have overcome, the miracles of which you have been a witness and an object - what use will you make of these memories of the past? I show you the path of righteousness and salvation: remember God, the author of all these blessings. Remember the Lord thy God."

Remember God. If this demand is accepted in its literal limitations, then one may think that it is too moderate, not to say meagre, and not in proportion to its subject. Is it enough to demand from a son that he sometimes remember his father? And isn't such a requirement superfluous? Can a son forget his father? Is it not even offensive to the son when it is assumed that he can forget his father? Is not man immeasurably more indebted to God than a son is to his father among men? The father gave his son life, but not his own, but received from God the Creator. The father brought up his son, introduced him to society, ensured his well-being, but all this was only with the blessing and under the protection of God the Providence. The son acts, not with the mind of the father, but with his own, not with the will of the father, but with his own, with the power not of the father, but with his own. But man can neither act, especially to act righteously, nor to think, especially to think good, nor to live, especially to live blessedly, without God, Who bears all things by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3), in Whom we live and move and are (Acts 17:28), without Whom we are not content to think of ourselves, as of ourselves (2 Corinthians 3:5), to Whom I will hide my face, all things will be troubled: ... and they shall perish, and return to their dust" (Psalm 103:29). With such an attitude of man to God, is it enough to demand of man that he sometimes remember God? And isn't such a requirement superfluous? Is it possible for a person to forget God? Is it not even offensive not only to God, but also to man himself, when it is assumed that he can forget God? There is no doubt that everyone's conscience will say to this: this is exactly how it should be, or so it should be.

This is how it should be by contemplating truth and justice. But what do we see in reality? Let us not look for a twig in someone else's eye - let each one touch his own, whether there is a log in him. Do we not spend many hours and whole days immersed in matters of earthly duties or simply arbitrariness, self-interest, and whim, without thinking of the heavenly duty: "Remember the Lord thy God"? When we encounter difficulties in business, obstacles, failures, deprivations, insults, do we not sometimes torment ourselves for a very long time with fruitless sorrow or vexation and an unsuccessful search for means to help ourselves, without using a close and sure means – to remember God and ask for His help, or to surrender to His will? Having success in business, enjoying security, abundance, a pleasant position in society, privileges in rank, in service, do we not pass from the bustle of worldly activity to moral slumber, in which we dream of our dignity, praise our art, expand our views immensely, exaggerate our hopes - and do not know how to wake up in order to remember God, to see His beneficent hand above us, and to give Him praise and thanksgiving?