“Learn to live in such a way that your death will be sweet. Keep your heart free and trained up towards God in heaven—you have no lasting citizenship here.” (Thomas à Kempis)
A sweet hour of death—what a wonderful prospect! This can mean nothing other than looking forward to death, or rather, looking forward to returning home to the heavenly Father.
And indeed: When we realize that we are hastening toward our Father every day, who guides and accompanies us on our journey through this earthly life, our hearts can be set ablaze and our longing to live with our Father in eternity grows stronger.
Of course, we still have our mission to fulfill. We do this best when we keep our eyes fixed on our Father, just as the Son of God always did the Father’s will.
Today’s message from Thomas à Kempis reminds us that we have no permanent home here. This advice is surely well known to us, but it still requires conscious application. It will help us store up treasures in heaven, make the most of our time, and concern ourselves with worldly matters only as is truly necessary, as the Apostle to the Gentiles recommends. In this way, our hearts will remain focused on God, who awaits us in eternity to share with us all that His love has conceived.
The author of The Imitation of Christ offers us one more word of wisdom to take with us on our journey:
“How wise and happy is the one who lives as he will ultimately wish to have lived!”
Whoever lives in this way can look forward to the final hour and face it with great confidence.