September 22 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

All of us who were baptized into Christ have had our exodus. We have left the house of bondage and tasted the wine of freedom. All of us are on our way to the promised land. In fact, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ we already share in the new creation.

And now God gives us a serious warning, reminding us what happened to our ancestors:

all were under the cloud
all passed through the sea
all were baptized into Moses
all ate the same spiritual food
all drank from the spiritual rock

Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased.

Five times God says that all were in, and then God excludes most of them.

We have no spiritual privileges except those that we enjoy as members of God's people. Christianity is not individualistic. The only way to be saved is to be incorporated into Christ and the fellowship of believers. Yet we may not seek our security in belonging to the fellowship. The security is in Christ, the salvation is confirmed by obedience to him.

Incorporation into Jesus Christ is not a sort of eternal life insurance. People can never sit and rest on their spiritual heritage or be safe because of their present environment. The question is how you and I react to God's favor.

Already we have one foot in the promised land. Now let's keep our eyes on the future, seek God's kingdom, and hate all forms of idolatry. How terrible to be shipwrecked when the harbor is in view! How tragic to be killed when you are almost home after a long journey!

All, all, all—five times all. And then: "God was not pleased with most of them." Paul continues: "Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did" (vv. 6, 11).

REFLECTIONS

In what ways might we "sit and rest on our spiritual heritage"?

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.