I picked up the book because of the recommendations by Eugene Peterson and Richard Foster on the back cover. Rarely has Peterson let me down and thus I took his word on this book--and he was right. Miller masterfully and imaginatively paints a picture of the Christian life that is both ancient and fresh.
He begins by demonstrating that Christians are characterized by their hunger to know God and to plunge into deeper depths of love and obedience. However, this takes discipline. "We would like to appear to be like Jesus without the discipline of really being like him" (13). He thus calls us to a heavenly and inward life. "Life in Christ is the only life built from heaven earthward and from the inside outward" (224). This is not a one-time act, but a life-long pilgrimage. "We cannot give our entire lives to God at one time and have it done with for all time. We must surrender second by second" (47). It will take sacrifice as well. "Sacrifice that insists on 'time off' from its own requirements is little more than indulgence with a small religious habit" (149).
Miller's chapters on materialism and the tyranny of time are challenging and eye-opening. His chapter on the place of mystery in the Christian life is much needed in the church today. So much worship is lost because all mystery is explained away! Miller ends his book with a great section on the place of confession of sin and the role of guilt in the Christian life. For example, Miller writes, "Are Christians never to feel guilty? Is guilt never good? Yes, when it has the effect of bringing us to God, but it can also have the effect of obscuring God. Guilt is most worthless when we become so self preoccupied that we can't see anything but our own selfish needs" (198).
In short, this book is full of unique and fresh insights that will make you long to live for God. The book both arouses spiritual hunger and simultaneously satisfies our hunger--thus accomplishing its objective.