September 16 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

Christ is our Passover lamb. He was killed for our trespasses. His blood saved our lives. Now we are God's people, free to serve our Lord.

All the old yeast (or leaven) must be removed from the Christian community, says Paul.

He refers to an old custom that is still sometimes observed: Jewish children search the house for old leaven (the parents hide a few pieces of old bread) just before the celebration of the Passover.

We have had our Passover, says Paul. By this, he doesn't mean that we have a feast once a year. He means that we are redeemed once and for all through Jesus Christ.

"Old yeast"—that is, the sins of the old nature—belongs to the time before our redemption. It is the leaven of malice and wickedness. This stuff does not belong in the community that has been saved by Christ.

Since Christ has now been sacrificed as a Passover lamb, it's time we got rid of the old yeast of evil in our lives. Since this is a community that has been redeemed by God, let us search out all malice and wickedness and throw it away.

All Christians know that although we are redeemed, we are not yet sinless. Although Christ has broken the old powers of sin, those powers still do harm among us. In fact, some Christians have said this so often that we have come to consider it "normal" that Christians are sinners and not holy people. But the Bible considers it abnormal.

Those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Redeemer and yet have a lot of old yeast in their lives must immediately throw it out. A Christian is not merely a sinner who has gone straight. And the Christian church is not just the old society patched up. It is radically new.

The old yeast is a foreign substance that does not belong in this body. It's an ugly growth that must be cut out.

REFLECTIONS

Search your heart and life for "old yeast," then ask God to help you get rid of it.

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.