I think most, if not all of us who call ourselves followers of Christ, want to live like Him. I do, like never before. I read a book by Dallas Willard when I was in seminary. It's called, The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives. Willard believes we can live like Christ lived. It is embodied in following him into the overall style of life he chose for himself. "If we have faith in Christ, we must believe that he knew how to live. We can, through faith become like Christ by practicing the types of activities he engaged in, arranging our whole lives around the activities he practiced himself in order to remain constantly at home in the fellowship of his Father.”

Well, Thomas a Kempis in The Imitation of Christ (TIOC) says essentially the same thing. He said it before Willard and it is the basis of the whole work. I read TIOC years ago and I picked up a new copy. I am reading it again and I am going to post from time to time my impressions on this most amazing and perhaps ignored book. It is practical, scriptural, vibrant and very Christ-centered. It reached across the centuries to me before and I hope it happens again and in new ways.

I welcome you to this exploration. If you wish and have the time, ask questions, converse.

“Whoever follows me, will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (Jn 8:12). It is with these words that à Kempis says we are “…advised to imitate his life and habits, if we wish to be truly enlightened and free from all blindness of heart.” All other advice (anybody’s by the way) pales in comparison to this call. If we are going to get what Jesus is saying, we must try to pattern our whole lives on that of Christ. Jesus said it first.

What puts us in good fellowship with the Trinity? Not learning per se and concept upon concept and precept upon precept but a life modeled and patterned like Christ’s. Thomas said, “I would rather feel contrition than to know how to define it.” How many of us have equated memorizing Bible verses and learning principles with living like Christ but somehow nullifying the grace and love of God?

Thomas understands Jesus’ words. Following Christ gets us into the light because it gets us learning how to live like him. It has very little to do with principles and everything to do with seeking what really counts; life with Christ and life like Christ’s.