Imitation of Christ

In looking at the Cross as the example to follow, the Cross is no longer something that happened a long time ago in a land far away but is something that happens to us in the here and now on a daily basis. The Cross is not only the promise of a transformed life in the hereafter but a transformed life today. 

Throughout the book, á Kempis tells us that we will always have difficulties and always fall short.  His intention, however, is not to dissuade us from seeking Christ, but rather to let us know that our difficulties and failures are common to all so that we should not lose heart. 

Throughout his meditations, á Kempis keeps returning to the theme of having an intimate friendship with Jesus.  An aspect of that friendship is the art of knowing how to converse with him. 

The first step towards Christ is not to worry about the state of someone else’s soul but ours.  If we only attend to ourselves and our own shortcomings, we will lack the energy to correct others and will be unable to judge others too harshly. 

in being illuminated inwardly by Christ the prophecy of Jerimiah becomes fulfilled “I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.” Hebrews 8:8-13.

The overall theme of these chapters (and the book) is to be prepared.  Nothing should focus the soul and the mind as death and the threat of punishment. 

In these final chapters of Book 1, á Kempis focuses on the final stages of purgation: remorse, misery, death, and judgment. (It’s Good Friday all over again.)