“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” — Matthew 6:21
Editor’s Note: We are thrilled to share with you an excerpt from Every Moment Holy, Volume III which just released this month! As we wrap up our memorization of and meditation on Matthew 6:21, may we increasingly be people who look to Christ as our ultimate treasure, ultimate rest, ultimate good.
Rest is a priceless treasure: a thing we desire and hold in high value, but is often fleeting and difficult to obtain as we run the race set before us in the coming and going of our days. In this prayer, Thomas À Kempis helps us assign words to the myriad things we—intentionally or not—place in priority over the treasure found when resting in God. — Leslie Eiler Thompson, Every Moment Holy Volume III: The Work of the People contributing writer |
A Liturgy for Resting in God, by Thomas À Kempis (1380–1471)
Excerpt from Every Moment Holy, Volume III
Grant me, O most loving Lord,
to rest in you above all else—
above all creatures,
above all health and beauty,
above all glory and honor,
above all power and dignity,
above all knowledge and cleverness,
above all riches and art,
above all fame and praise,
above all sweetness and comfort,
above all hope and promise,
above all gifts and favors that you can give,
above all happiness my mind can feel;
above all that is not you, O God.
Anything you bestow on me
or reveal to me or promise to me
is too small and unsatisfying
if I do not see or meet you in it.
For surely my heart cannot truly rest,
or ever be fully contented,
unless it rest in you.
Amen.