Thomas a Kempis was not a haphazard follower of Jesus. The depth of his masterpiece mirrors the life of a man who did whatever was necessary to imitate his own Savior. A Kempis lived as intentionally as he wrote. We must turn away from the things of this world, we must live sacrificially, we must be inundated with Christ’s passionate teaching, and we must pray to be removed from distraction.

A classic in every state of the word, The Imitation of Christ places the fruit of one man’s single-minded devotion to God’s calling on his life within the reach of every reader. May we all commit to be this effective in our emulation of Jesus.