December 21 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

There are about four hundred years between the close of the book of Malachi and the beginning of the New Testament. One of the last Words God spoke to Malachi was that he would send Elijah the prophet. And the first thing the angel Gabriel said to the priest Zechariah was: "[Your son] will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah." The New Testament begins where the Old Testament left off. The Lord is coming, and Elijah will go before him.

God sent John the Baptist to prepare his people for the coming of the Lord. John the Baptist fulfilled his task "in the spirit and power of Elijah." Elijah was the man who told Israel to stop "wavering between two opinions." They had to break with their half-baked religion. Elijah called Israel to make a clear-cut decision: "If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, follow him" (1 Kings 18:21).

If we want to be ready to meet the Lord, we must first be confronted by the message of John the Baptist: If the Lord is God, serve him, but if money is God, then serve it. Stop trying to go in two different directions at the same time.

We must meet John the Baptist if we are to meet Jesus. That means we must listen to the call of repentance and conversion. We can believe in Jesus only if we give up our other beliefs. If we say yes to Jesus, we must say no to all other lords.

It sounds a bit harsh in this season of goodwill. The sermons of John the Baptist don't make good Christmas cards. But there has always been a big gap between what God tells us and what we want to hear. You cannot get around John the Baptist if you want to meet the Lord.

REFLECTIONS

How will you make room for John the Baptist in this Christmas season?

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.