Theophan, as I shared, believed that the person who neglects his desire for God and his own salvation (i.e., sinner) will remain in a ceaseless whirl of the three types of emptiness forever (i.e., emptiness of mind, will and heart) if he were left alone, for such is the nature of our slavery to   sin. But this whirling is intensified and complicated a thousand times because there are other people who also seek only those things that can gratify their own desires. There are many in our society who only desire the things of this world and serve as a magnate drawing the sinner ever deeper into the vortex of emptiness causing the sinner to ever increase his love for possessions and self-indulgence.

Think about it. The very first time a   person gives into temptation reduces his ability to later resist temptation. Humans quickly become oblivious to their attraction to those things that give them pleasure and become ever increasingly absorbed in the pursuit of pleasure.

Theophan asserts that worldly pleasures can quickly be the ruin of one’s spirit. Being actively united with this entire world, every sinner falls into its broad nets, wraps himself in them, and is so deeply buried that he cannot be seen. A heavy burden lies upon the sinner, that lover of this world. He has no power to move or stir, not even a little. He cannot do anything that is not in accordance with the spirit of this world.

While this all sounds quite depressing, I know, there is a way to live in this world and yet not become obsessed by it. The way is the Way of Jesus. He lived in the world and yet did not let the world distract Him from His commitment to worship of the Father and love for His fellowman. It is something, however, that every human can do if he/she only embraces the way of living that Jesus modeled. It means, however, that we have to decide what is important to us. Is God important to you? Is your salvation important to you? If it is, then you will try to live like Jesus lived.