October 18 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

Although many people are still unwilling to accept the Christian teaching of original sin, few believe any more that a person begins the journey of life in utter freedom. The bad habits that we may have picked up since we were babies do not account for the awful reality of human bondage.

From a distance, two men walking down the street may seem to be moving freely. But when you come close, you suddenly notice that one is handcuffed to the other. At first you didn't see the thin chain binding them together—you had to come closer. So it is with each of us. A closer look reveals that we are chained.

When we pray to do God's will, we also ask God to break our bondage. We cannot run when our feet are tied. We cannot go where God wants us to go as long as there are powers that keep us back.

In principle every Christian has been set free from sin to obey the Father. It is no longer impossible for us to please God, for the Son has set us free.

But the unchaining is also a process. Some of these thin but tough bands are not uncovered until much light from Christ has shone into our lives. For instance, there may be powers in our environment to which we are deeply conformed and accustomed that actually keep us back from being true servants of God.

Pray, then, that the Son may make us free, so that the only thing that counts is doing the will of God.

We are free only when we can obey God with our whole heart. But we still find that our desires to serve God are hindered by other desires. There is still reservation in our love. There is still some unwillingness, even in obedience.

The beauty of the life to come consists in being entirely free to serve. Unreservedly we will be able to give ourselves in love. We will give God our hearts and our all. Our complete freedom will be celebrated in perfect obedience.

REFLECTIONS

What are some of the "thin but tough bands" that might be holding you back from being the kind of Christian you want to be?

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.