September 6 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

According to an old story, when Herod sent his soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all the boys ages two and under, there weren't any. God had seen to it that in the year Jesus was born and in the year after that, no other boys were born in Bethlehem.

A lovely story. A nice effort to keep Christmas nice.

But Matthew tells us that Bethlehem made him think of Rachel. She was a mother who died in Bethlehem while giving birth to a son (Gen. 35:18). And Matthew was not the only one who thought of Rachel when he saw the misery of God's children. Jeremiah also mentioned her tears when he saw the sons of Jacob driven from their land into slavery (Jer. 31:15).

And yet it is exactly when grief makes it difficult to think of anything else that Israel must listen to the word of prophecy: "But you, Bethlehem . . . out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times" (Mic. 5:2).

The daughter of Zion must now believe that all of Israel will be saved by the salvation of God's Son. All of God's children are saved as long as the Son of God is saved. If he lives, all of us will live. If he escapes the sword, all of us will be free. If he conquers the devil, all of us will be conquerors through him.

We may not deny the sorrows of the earth. But the Word of comfort wants to assure us that earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.

The sorrow of Israel's children will not just be healed in the hereafter; heaven has already come to earth to bring healing. The Word is being fulfilled, and the history of God's people is moving to its climax. When it becomes very dark, a new day is very close.

Weep not, people of God. Remember that the Savior lives!

REFLECTIONS

"Earth has no sorrows that heaven cannot heal." What are the "sorrows," worries, concerns, or fears that you need to bring to "heaven" today?

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.