May 1 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

1 Corinthians 15:20–26

Devotional

A skipper was in his ship in the harbor of a foreign land, ready to cross the ocean to go home. He longed to be home, but he feared the crossing because storms would rage and waves would roar. Would he reach his own harbor? Or would he perish in the waves?

A child of God can be like a skipper on the vast ocean. There can be a deep longing to finally go home to be forever with the Lord. There is a spiritual longing to be home, because that is where God’s child will finally be at rest. There he can rest with his God. Arrival will mean to be in His communion and to be under the love of His friendly countenance. Life would already be unbearable on this side of the crossing, if such a homecoming was not to be anticipated.

But the crossing can be severe. The Jordan of death can be full of affliction. And one will cry with Christian from Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, “I cannot see the land of promise.” There will, however, be a desire to be with God forever. Nowhere else can he find rest for his soul. But how shall they ever reach the other side? Death lies between earth and heaven. Death is the great enemy. It is the final enemy.

A Christian has to go through various gates to reach his destination. There is first of all the narrow gate, which leads to life. That is so low and so narrow, that he cannot go through this gate in any other way than by bowing and losing all he has. Then there is the gate of affliction. This gate can be so dark that the child of God can find no light in sight. There is also the gate of doubt. It is at this gate that discerning between the voice of God and the voice of the devil is difficult. There are gates of tribulation and gates of unbelief. There are gates of suffering and gates of the riddles of life. These are all gates in which the sinner must humble himself before God in order to go through them. With God’s grace, he can pass through each gate and in doing so, God is exalted. There are archways that God’s child does not want to go through, and yet he cannot continue without them. The last gate is death. That is the last enemy. Only God is able to lead His people through all these gates. He gives grace.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.