February 20 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

Sometimes a member of the clergy or a police officer has to visit a certain house to bring the news that one of the members of that family has died in an accident. He or she arrives at the house with a heavy heart. The people don't know the shattering message. But then the look in their eyes turns from ignorance to suspicion to fright to terror.

God tells his secrets to his people. He confides in his earthly friends. What God has told us has cheered us more than anything else, for the message is happy, hopeful news. But God has also entrusted us with an awesome burden.

Here we are, living every day among people who are absorbed in the ordinary realities of human business. And we go our way among them as the ones-who-know. We know that one of these days God will walk into this ordinary routine of living. Suddenly all these people will be placed before a reality of which they have no inkling at present. They think it's a bad joke or a silly idea.

It's not easy to speak of this burden. Yes, of course there are people who can spout hell and damnation whenever they are turned on. But they don't give us the impression that they are carrying confidential information from their Lord.

No, it's not easy. But you can't keep quiet forever when you have a burden on your heart. After all, we know that it's going to happen. We believe that God's threats are as real as God's promises. We must first learn to speak freely and naturally of the promises. Then God will show us how to deliver the burden of his threats, wherever and whenever we have to speak out. God will give us the grace and courage.

REFLECTIONS

What difference might this Scripture passage and reading make in your day-to-day life?

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published by Paideia Press in 1977. This updated edition is copyright 2009 by Faith Alive Christian Resources. You can order a copy of this revised version of the book directly from the publisher.

A man of many accomplishments, Andrew Kuyvenhoven is probably best known for his contributions to Today (formerly The Family Altar), a widely-used monthly devotional booklet associated with the Back to God Hour. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations for this updated edition of Daylight are from the Holy Bible: Today's New International Version copyright 2001, 2005 by the International Bible Society.