January 3 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

"Now it is coming," said John the Baptist. Finally God is coming to the earth, coming with vengeance and salvation. All that is wicked God will burn away, but whatever is clean and good he will gather and preserve forever.

John thought that the final judgment was coming. That's because he was the last of the Old Testament prophets. The Old Testament sees Jesus' first and second comings as one event, one double act of salvation and judgment. We know more than John the Baptist, for we live after the death and resurrection of Jesus. We know that Jesus was judged for our sins when he came the first time. Later he will come back as Judge.

This does not mean, however, that John made a mistake. The kingdom was really coming, and the King really came. John performed the task for which God had appointed him. John told the Jews and, ultimately, all of us that nobody can enter the kingdom without repentance and cleansing.

What is repentance? It's not just feeling sorry for what we have done; it's a break with the old pattern. We give up our former love and our former ways. We turn to God and his ways.

Wherever the kingdom is proclaimed, the message of the forerunner must be heard: We cannot reach for the treasures of God's kingdom as long as our hands are dirty. We cannot enter God's kingdom as long as we are building our own.

We tend to postpone repentance. We tend to postpone all cleanup work: in our rooms, around the house, and in our lives. One of Satan's demons must be called Procrastinator. He keeps people out of the kingdom by telling them that they can repent tomorrow.

Do it now. For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Reflections

Daily confession of sin is part of repentance. Take time now to ask God, once again, for forgiveness.

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.