December 31 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Devotional

Every nation and many regions have their own customs for observing the change from one year to another. In North America we try to make New Year's Eve the noisiest night of the year. It differs from place to place, of course, but in most places people whoop it up to a lunatic pitch.

What sort of national nervous disorder is this? Fear, maybe?

Christians do not have to walk around today as if we were the last of the Pharisees. But we should at least be sober-minded, for we have a few things to discuss with our God.

This year is past. "If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?"

Can we take ten minutes today to think about our sins of the past year? Do we have the time, the spiritual sensitivity, and the moral seriousness to think for ten minutes of all of our failures in the past year? And could we then put them into words and confess them before God?

"But with you, there is forgiveness."

Picture God writing on every page of the calendar of the past year: Forgiven, forgiven, and again forgiven! Through tears of gratitude, see God writing "Forgiven" with the blood of Jesus.

Only when the past does not plague us anymore can we be serene in the present and prepare for a look at the future.

We cannot look into the future, and we won't pretend we can. The newspapers and magazines will try to make their forecasts today and tomorrow. Once again the charlatans and stargazers will make a pretty penny on the superstitious children of our technological age. But we will place our trust in God.

We know only one thing about the future: Jesus is coming!

REFLECTIONS

Consider taking that ten minutes to think about and confess your biggest failures of the past year—and give thanks for the joy of knowing that God has completely forgiven them all.

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.