August 22 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

We are going through a crisis of faith. People today are no longer squabbling over minor points of doctrine. They are arguing about the very existence of God.

Honesty requires us to say that doubt about God is not far from any one of us. Honesty also requires that those who deny him should leave the church, for the church is still a fellowship of believers in the God who spoke to Abraham and through Moses, the God who said his final word in Jesus Christ.

God sets the terms of our fellowship with him—we are to approach God "by faith." If we refuse, God cannot be reached. God must be sought by those who believe that he exists, in the expectation that he rewards those who long for him.

We cannot give faith to anyone. We can only say, "If you approach God in the confidence that his Word is reliable, you will be rewarded." We say this "by faith," but we also speak because we ourselves have been enriched by what we found.

Some people deny God's reality. To us they sound painfully arrogant. We know their answer when we tell them that they must begin their search by faith. They do not wish to surrender before they start. Yet it is God who spells out the terms of the encounter. The basic law of all true religion is that there are no approaches to God and can be no knowledge of the everlasting One unless we believe God exists. And the only reward desired by those who seek him is the joy of finding him.

Christians are humble enough to admit difficulties in persevering. Those who seek do find. Yet they find because they always seek. Probably the greatest mystery of a life of faith and prayer is this: in our search for God we come to discover God's search for us. At the very moment when we find, we must admit with a smile that we were found by God.

REFLECTIONS

"In our search for God we come to discover God's search for us." Reflect on how this has been true in your experience.

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.