December 3 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

Human life is under a constant threat. We hate to talk about it. And we dislike people who bring it up. But no sober person can deny that we are living on the edge of a volcano. We are on the verge of a disaster every minute of our lives.

In this century, since September 11, 2001, we live under the cloud of another terrorist attack—perhaps many times more deadly than the one that brought down the twin towers. Rogue nations scramble to get the bomb and threaten to use it. Powerful nations already have enough nuclear weapons to destroy life on our planet. It will take only a few moments of panic or insanity.

Those who know the Bible fear the wrath of God. His earliest judgment was a flood that destroyed a world in revolt against him. God's wrath is really the cloud under which we live. God may use the reckless folly of sinister people to execute his wrath. In the past God has used the merciless Assyrians and the proud Babylonians. Let's pray that the Lord won't do it now.

God's wrath is very real. You and I get used to sin and rebellion against the sovereign God. But God will not tolerate it. The threat of his anger is bigger than people can imagine, and judgment is closer than most people think.

However, the clouds of God's wrath have a silver lining—the rainbow. God preserved the earth to make his own work of salvation possible. To this very day God has been faithful to the vow he made to the earth. For that reason the sun still shines on the evil and the good. God withholds the threat of destruction and tempers justice with mercy.

God wants all people to meet Jesus at Bethlehem before they meet him as the Judge of their lives. By his compassion, the present world continues to exist. Now is the time when people may flee the wrath that is coming.

If we know Jesus today as Savior and serve him as Lord, the last dark cloud of judgment will evaporate. We will live forever under the rainbow colors of his love.

REFLECTIONS

What hope and comfort does living under God's rainbow give you?

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.