Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/3528

3528 Unused earth days.... repentance.... childhood of God....

August 28, 1945: Book 45

The days the human being leaves unused on earth for his spiritual higher development are irretrievably lost, for as soon as earthly life is over he is deprived of the opportunities to carry out works of love out of his own strength. Admittedly, he can also strive upwards in the beyond but he only receives strength in a certain degree of maturity. But if the soul has not reached this then it is completely powerless, whereas on earth even the most imperfect human being has strength at his disposal which he can use to work in love. And although he also has the opportunity to mature spiritually in the beyond.... the unused time on earth is lost to him which he could use to achieve the highest aim.... the childship to God, which requires a degree of maturity which can never be made up for in the beyond. The human being has to strive for this aim with all his strength, he has to completely devote himself to God and live according to His will, but then he will also make use of every day on earth, he will consciously always live his earthly life with his eyes upwards, he will live a spiritual life which overrules earthly life. But anyone who is lukewarm and indolent, whose heart is divided between God and the earthly world, will spend days where he is only purely earthly-minded, and these days will be lost to him for eternity. For the world awakens earthly desires, it awakens impulses in the human being's heart which lack love, and the soul will not be released from its fetters, the shell will not be burst but rather thickened, and the spirit will be hindered in its actual activity, it will not be able to work, and the human being will be at the mercy of the forces which strive to win him through the world. However, higher development on earth requires the release of the spirit, for only when it can work in him will the human being progress upwards, driven by the spirit which prevents his downfall and introduces the soul into the spiritual kingdom. Once the spirit in the human being has awakened it will no longer sink into sleep, then it will be constantly active.... then the human being will also use every day for his spiritual well-being. But as long as he slumbers the soul remains on the same level, then it only lives in the earthly but not in the spiritual world. And these days are lost to it. A fully utilized earthly life belongs to the attainment of childship to God, a life where the will is always turned towards God, although the human being is exposed to great temptations which are meant to test his will. As long as the human being's will has not yet decided in favour of God the soul cannot develop upwards either, rather, the danger of regression is great because God's adversary leaves no means untried to win the soul. And his means is the world with its enticements and its illusory glamour, to which the soul too easily falls prey. Therefore, the human being only belongs to God when he has overcome the world, only then will he ascend, and then no day may remain unused if full success is to be achieved. In the beyond there is certainly also higher development for the soul if it has the will for it, yet until it has reached the degree of light it is extremely laborious and requires a long time.... it first has to acquire the treasures which it can easily gain on earth and which follow it into the spiritual kingdom. And therefore anyone who uses the time on earth and gathers spiritual treasures which allow him to enter the kingdom of light, where he then constantly strives upwards, will be blessed.... yet the souls who come to realization in the beyond and remember the unused time on earth, which they will never be able to make up for even if spiritual ascent is still possible for them, will painfully regret it....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers