March 4 Daily Devotional

Monthly Theme:

In March we read the gospel of John. John wrote his gospel so that his readers would know and believe the claims of Jesus. Those who do have everlasting life here and now.

Bible Reading:

John 3:1–15

Bible Text:

"No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again (or born from above)" (John 3:3).

Devotional:

We must be born again, says Jesus. That's a pride-shattering bit of news. It means that none of us qualifies for the kingdom of God. Even the Jews, even teachers such as Nicodemus, need a second birth in order to live in God's kingdom. The Holy Spirit of God must be our parent before we can be children of God.

"You must be born again" is not a prescription. It does not tell us what we must do. It says what we cannot do. Unfortunately, some preachers read Jesus' words as if he had said, "You must give birth again." We must not give life but receive it.

To be sure, the Bible also tells us what we must do. Here is the prescription: Believe in Jesus as the Son of God and you will live the new life.

That seems almost too simple. Actually, it is both simple and miraculous, like most acts of God.

To drive this message home to his listeners, Jesus used an Old Testament illustration: "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up" (v. 14).

In the desert, the people of Israel were dying by God's punishment. The camp was infested with venomous snakes, and there was no way to escape. Then Moses lifted up a bronze snake on a pole. After that, the Bible says, "when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived" (Num. 21:9).

Every doomed-to-death sinner gets life by looking to Jesus.

Andrew Kuyvenhoven's Daylight, a modern devotional classic, was originally published in 1994. This edition is copyright by Faith Alive Christian Resources, from whom may be ordered Daylight, the predecessor of Twilight.

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 edition of Twilight are from the New International Version

Be sure to read the "Preface" and the "Acknowledgments" by the author.