By St. John of Kronstadt
"Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth" (Col. 3:1-2).
Beloved brothers and sisters! Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ascended from earth to heaven. Let us also follow Him. For this is why He came to earth, lived, taught, worked miracles, did good to people in every possible way, suffered, died and rose again, and ascended again to the Father and sat down at His right hand: to lead us to heaven. For this reason, the God on high descended to earth, so that He would raise us to heaven, says the Holy Church.
But how can we follow Him to heaven? – To live as He lived, to imitate Him to the best of your ability, to follow His teaching and life means to follow Him. Let us hate all lawlessness, let us love truth and virtue, and let us love God with all our hearts. Let us be humble, low-minded, meek, kindly, temperate, hardworking, like bees and ants, pure in soul and body, sincere and unhypocritical, courageous and patient, faithful and honest, simple-hearted and peace-loving, merciful and compassionate, impartial to anything earthly, that is, we will use earthly gifts with thanksgiving and generosity, as His gifts that we need in temporary life; reasonably and with extreme caution, without clinging to them with your heart, like to disappearing smoke. Following this path, we will acquire active living faith, hope, unfeigned love for God and neighbor, we will love every virtue, considering this an eternal, unshakable acquisition and actually trying to excel in every virtue, and we will follow Christ, and Christ God will exalt us to the same place where He Himself is. "Where I am, there will My servant be" (John 12:26), He Himself said in the Holy Gospel.
And so remember more often about Christ, O Christian, how He lived, loved people, taught them most of all about love, holy, heavenly love, how out of love for you, His lost sheep, He came down from heaven, how He worked for you, walked on earth until fatigue and exhaustion, as He suffered for you before the cross and on the cross, in order to deliver you from your sinful passions and sensual worldly addictions, in order to bring you to your senses and put you on the path of salvation; how He died in agony for you and rose again with Divine glory. And little by little, love for God, your Savior, will rise in your heart; you will turn away and lag behind sin, which has caused so many troubles on earth and is now bringing countless troubles upon us; and you will love the holy and life-giving law of the Lord, and you will fulfill it to the best of your ability. You will rise with your thoughts and heart desires from earth to heaven, and then with your mind and heart you will live more in heaven than on earth - and the Lord, seeing you ready and worthy of His dwelling, will take you to Himself. "Where I am, there will My servant be." Thus the saints reached their heavenly fatherland. At first, little by little, and then by much, for they hated sin with all their souls, passionately loved the one Lord with all their hearts, sought Him alone, found Him, placed Him in their hearts and ascended with Him to heaven. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
