April 27 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

Many people—one-third of Americans, according to a recent USA Today survey—believe in astrology. It's amazing and sickening. Respected newspapers that can hardly ever find anything "newsworthy" in the work and message of the Christian church would not dare go to press without the so-called horoscopes of their readers.

Astrology says that a person's fate was fixed by the stars at the time of her birth. A similar fatalism is expressed by those who think that parenthood and birthplace determine what we are and limit what we might become.

God is giving a roll call of the citizens in his holy city. Some people are from Babylon, others from Philistia. Both groups are archenemies of Israel. The hatred between them and the people of God is old and deep, and it would seem to be incurable. Blacks from Ethiopia (Cush) are acknowledged, as are seafarers from Tyre. But all these people go through the temple doors. And they are all counted as born in Jerusalem, cradled in the city of God. Never mind the stars, never mind the cities and countries they hail from. The springs of their lives are in Jerusalem.

The vision of this psalm is fulfilled in the one worldwide church of Jesus Christ. This church confesses the miracle of its existence in the hymn "Elect from every nation, yet one over all the earth, her charter of salvation, one faith, one hope, one birth."

By incorporating us into Christ, God has opened our lives to new possibilities of growth that are unknown to the natural mind. We are people whose common allegiance is no longer determined by natural birth but by spiritual birth. We form a new family. We have one Father, and we are each other's brothers and sisters.

The old divisions are stubborn; yet they lose meaning in the church. As citizens of God's kingdom, all of us hold the same birth certificate. We are all traveling on one passport in the same direction—the New Jerusalem.

REFLECTIONS

How do you experience the diversity and unity of the church? Give thanks for the worldwide family of God!

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.