June 18 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

The grace of God makes us quiet and modest, but also passionate for what is right. God's grace restrains us from being loud and self-assertive. But God's Spirit does give us a zeal for righteousness.

Christians must have strong convictions about right and wrong. For us it is not enough to hold the opinion that crime does not pay. That's TV morality. We must be deeply persuaded that righteousness pays everlasting dividends.

When you believe in God, you must dare to stick out your neck for what is right. Whatever is right and true and good comes from God. Therefore the pursuit of righteousness, truth, and goodness is from God. It is carried on through God, and it leads to God. Why be timid if you walk in the way of God himself?

Some kids keep mum when crimes are committed in school. They are nice kids. They believe that crime doesn't pay. But they don't believe that righteousness pays either.

There are still plenty of "good citizens" who do not participate in crime. But they don't believe it is their business to start a crusade for righteousness either.

The lukewarm attitude of decent but unbelieving citizens is understandable. Their main concern, after all, is to mind their own business. That's the scope of their calling. But Christians are cut out of a different cloth. We have been addressed by God. He has laid his hand on us. He has put his Spirit in us. If we are ever lukewarm about right and wrong, truth and falsehood, we are denying our Lord.

God wants and creates people who do right for no other reason than that it is right. And if we are hurt while we are doing right, we are not really harmed. The only time we suffer real evil is when we do evil or refuse to do right.

REFLECTIONS

What might "sticking your neck out for God" look like at work? At a game? At school? With your friends?

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.