May 7 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

A ship encounters rough weather far from the shore. It lowers its anchor. While the anchor chain is unwinding, the crew says a prayer that the anchor may take firm hold down in the invisible depth.

This picture is used in our reading from Hebrews. But our anchor does not go down into the invisible depth. The chain reaches into the invisible height. It reaches "behind the curtain," right to the most holy place, the presence of God, "where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf." The anchor of our faith lies in the hands of Jesus. His presence with the Father is the ground that holds my anchor. The finished work of Jesus and the ongoing work of our Lord is the only solid ground on which all of our hopes rely.

There's going to be rough weather ahead. We will be tossed and beaten. However, if we have set our hope on the finished work of Jesus and on his present position of power with the Father, we will remain anchored, firm and secure. The certainty of our faith—that everything will work out for good and that, in the last day, we will not be shown up as fools but as victors—lies in Christ's being with the Father. He is the ground that holds our anchor.

A naturalist spotted the nest of a rare bird ten feet down a steep cliff. He said to a boy: "You can earn twenty dollars if you go and get me an egg out of that nest." "I'll do it, sir," the boy replied, "but I want a rope around my middle and I want my father to hold the other end of the rope." Why did the boy want his father to hold the rope? Because he knew very well that his father would never let go. The father would be his anchor.

What is the bottom of our faith? Who is holding the rope? What is the ground that holds our anchor? Millions of people have no sure reliance. But if your anchor is Jesus—his finished work and his present position—you cannot be lost.

REFLECTIONS

What does this reading say to you about your faith, especially when you run into "rough weather"?

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.