March 23 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

When the early missionaries gained converts in the towns where they presented the gospel, they would come back to encourage the young Christians and tell them bluntly that they must "go through many hard­ships [tribulations] to enter the kingdom of God." They presented this message as a general rule. They did not say: "Some of you may have to suffer, and others will live happily ever after." They made it very clear that there is no painless path to glory.

Today's missionaries have told us how many people in Islamic lands, in China, and elsewhere suffer tribulation when they become disciples of Jesus. Yet we must not think only of them. The rule also holds for us. The suffering is not incidental or historical; it belongs to the way of salvation. This suffering cannot be avoided and it must not be evaded. Why is suf­fering inevitable for us?

We are going to be the target of Satan. He will try his devilish best to make us unfaithful to Christ.

We will stand up for the name of Jesus. Therefore we will be despised, ridiculed, and persecuted by others—often by those who are closest to us.

We must deny ourselves. Our old, sinful self will die a slow death.

That will hurt too.

We learn to love as Jesus loved. That makes us very vulnerable. Love brings pain.

Once we have discovered that our call to the kingdom involves us in suffering, we must avoid two mistakes: we should not try to reason this teaching away by some "interpretation," and we should not suddenly try to become martyrs by stirring up opposition. Orthodox Christians are inclined to make the former mistake; sectarian Christians will make the second. All we have to do, really, is examine ourselves and look critically at our lifestyles, asking ourselves if we are identifying with Jesus. And the gospel of suffering will make itself plain.

REFLECTIONS

In what way(s) do you suffer because you are "identifying with Jesus"? If your life is currently free from suffering, should you be concerned or just give thanks?

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.