March 26 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

The sorrow of God and the sorrow of Christ were reflected in the sor­row of Paul: "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart." It almost sounds like exaggeration. Paul feels that most people will have trouble understanding his pain. Therefore he places himself under a sol­emn oath (v. 1). He speaks the truth in Christ. He does not lie, and his conscience, ruled by God's Spirit, is witness. Then he tells us the reason for his anguish: his own brothers and sisters reject Jesus Christ!

We must be aware that the call to follow Jesus Christ, when obeyed, will bring us suffering. But it also will give us a joy that's deeper and bet­ter than any other pleasure. Yet with the new joy comes a new kind of suffering.

We will suffer for many reasons. But the deepest level of our suffering is this one: we share the sorrow of God as soon as we share the love of God.

All love brings pain. Those who wish to be without pain should keep their lives free from love. If you don't care for anybody, chances are that you won't get hurt unless your own sweet little self is hurt. But if you happen to love your wife, her pain will go through your own soul. And if you are one of those who share in the love of God, you will feel some­thing of God's sorrow whenever you see sin or a sinner.

Some people talk about the love of God as if it were kindness at a distance: "Someone upstairs loves you." There may be some truth in this crude saying—as long as we realize that we remain strangers to that kindness of God until he himself has moved into our hearts. God's love does not remain "upstairs." We know God's love only when his Spirit has moved into us (Rom. 5:5).

Once the Lord has moved into us, it is impossible for us to remain indifferent when he is angry, to hate what he loves, or to love what he hates.

REFLECTIONS

When have you felt something of the "sorrow of God"? What enables you to feel this sorrow?

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.