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People who have been blessed with smooth, easy lives here on earth have a hard time desiring Heaven. They become so very much attached to this world and all that is in it. How is it possible to get such people more interested in Heaven and their spiritual lives?

A very familiar verse to all is in the Holy Gospel of St. Matthew 19:23, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven." This verse plainly tells of the difficulty of salvation for those attached to the riches of this world. Furthermore, the disciples and those who give up their earthly life completely will receive a hundredfold in the Eternal Kingdom (verse 29).

God acts in cooperation with the soul. To save the unwilling would be compulsion; but to save the willing is a show of grace. Perfection is to voluntarily sacrifice all and to follow the one, Lord Jesus Christ for the cause of His Kingdom. The Kingdom belongs to those who desire to BE PERFECT.

The beginning of salvation occurs when a person repents, believes the Holy Gospel, and enters into a personal relationship with the Lord. Conversion is not simply the change of religious beliefs but the beginning of a new life in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Orthodox salvation is the working together of conversion, justification, and sanctification throughout our earthly lives.

If you know of someone who is not interested in the Holy Gospel (for any reason regardless of financial status), offer to sit and study with them. If you know of someone who needs the Lord Jesus Christ in their life, offer to take them to Church to witness and hear the Divine Liturgy. Perhaps this will move them to learn of the seven Holy Sacraments and hence desire to participate in them. This is evangelism in its purest form as carried out by the holy disciples and all those who followed them.