May 20 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

I have used the word church quite frequently this month. This word cannot be avoided when we think of the heavenly ministry of Jesus. The church is the people among whom Christ is present by his Word and Spirit after his ascension. Jesus loves these people and he identifies with his church.

The Lord did not say to Saul: "Why are you persecuting my church?" What he said was: "Why do you persecute me?" Jesus identifies with his church. An attack on the church is an attack on Jesus.

Saul, who was later named Paul, thought that Jesus was dead. He thought that the disciples were spreading a new teaching, a teaching dangerous to the Jewish faith. Actually, it was the living Lord who was continuing his own work through his Spirit and by his followers. When Saul lifted up his hand against the Lord's followers, the Lord stayed his hand and changed his life.

Any husband jealously defends his wife, or he is no husband at all. "If you touch her, you touch me." The Scriptures say that the unity between husband and wife is but a shadow of the unity between Christ and his church.

This means that every other human organization is well advised to keep its hands off the church. Let nobody abuse any function assigned to him within the church by Christ. The Lord will guard his rights as owner and lover: "If you touch her, you touch me."

What a comfort! And what an obligation! Anyone who comes close to us, to the members of Christ's body, enters the presence of the living Lord.

Our highest ambition is to be counted with the people of God. God's cause is our cause, and his will is our command. Christ's Father is our Father, his enemies are our enemies, and his home will be our home. We identify with Christ because he has made us his own.

REFLECTIONS

In what ways do you identify with Christ?

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.