I have a favorite devotional book, 《The Imitation of Christ》, which is not a modern devotional book like the 《Our Daily Bread》, but a devotional book written by a priest, Thomas A. Kempis, in early 15 years in Europe. It was also the first time I had read such a historical devotional book, and I was interested about the spirituality of the ancients.
After I read it, I thought that if a modern devotional book is like a heartwarming sketch, then《The Imitating Christ》 feels like a practical textbook. It’s not like a devotional app or a modern devotional book, where there is a passage or topic that leads us to think about faith every day, but rather like the proverbs of the Bible, with many concise and precise teachings.
In short, it is like the title of the book, which encourages believers to imitate Jesus Christ. It teaches us to take time for quiet solitude, to reflect on ourselves in Jesus Christ, and to live out our faith, and then God will be involved in each practice, helping us to break through, so that our lives can grow more and more like Jesus Christ. In this way, every Christian becomes a model to show who Jesus Christ is. From this point of view, spirituality is not just a stage of introspection and learning in God’s Word, but it needs to be further and truly lived out in daily life. Through practice, the reality of experiencing God is engraved in our hearts one by one, and over time, our knowledge and faith in God gradually deepens until it is unshakable. While the format of devotional books have varied with the times, the core and purpose of devotional books remains the same today.
《The Imitation of Christ》 is known as a classic devotional book, certainly because of its popularity. Such a popular book for contemporary Christians must have been written at a time when Christianity was flourishing? No, on the contrary, it was born in the darkest time of Europe. At that time, the political turmoil in Europe was rampant, and the Black Death was rampant, nearly one-third of the population of Europe died from the epidemic, and what was even more tragic was that the Holy See at that time was very corrupt, and many clergy did not follow Jesus at all, and their evil made life even more difficult for the people. The publication of the devotional book 《The Imitation of Christ》 is like a beacon in the darkness, guiding people to re-attach importance to their relationship with God, so that the people who suffered at that time can get close to God through their devotions, regain their motivation to get through the difficult times, and strive to live as Christ. As the Bible says, “That which has been is that which shall be; and that which has been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The times we are experiencing now are not easy, God helped the people of medieval Europe to tide over the difficulties, and also helped us to get through the present and the future together, and the book 《The Imitation of Christ》 crosses the times, reminding us today that we must not despise the devotional life, or even give up their devotional life, but must continue to get close to God through the devotion life, and repent before God repeatedly, so that life will be cultivated by God to be more mature and stronger. Only in this way will we not be overwhelmed by the darkness and difficulties of the world, but will be able to live out the life force that belongs to Christians and let the light of Jesus Christ shine in the world.
Pastor Tobey Chan