April 8 Daily Devotional

Monthly Theme:

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the beginning of a new life for all believers. It's also the pledge of our resurrection (1 Cor. 15). The study of Colossians is part of this month's meditations on the meaning of the resurrection.

Bible Reading:

Ecclesiastes 1: 1–11

Bible Text:

Stand firm.... You know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Cor. 15:58).

Devotional:

Human life yields no clue about its own meaning. That's a perplexing truth. The empires of history claimed eternal glory for themselves, but all that remains of them are museum exhibitions and piles of rubble. In the same way, the study of ordinary lives—the birth, growth, decay, and death of common people—gives no evidence that life makes sense.

I am now at an age at which I see more and more of my acquaintances vanishing behind the curtain of death. Some had many possessions but could not enjoy them for lack of health. Some had keen minds and rich storehouses of memory and experience. But then we witnessed "their minds and memories flee." Now the gems are lost. The silver cord is severed, the golden bowl is broken beyond repair or retrieval. All of it vanishes. All is gone.

Rather the meaning of life must be sought and found in the Word of the Creator of life. The value of each day and deed is not self-evident. We live our days and perform our deeds in the light of the coming age. And we must "stand firm" on the foundation of the Christian gospel, which begins with the forgiveness of sins and ends with the resurrection of the body.

In Christ we are not only set free from sin as moral failure; we are also delivered from the vanity and meaninglessness described in Ecclesiastes. Our lives "in the Lord" are eternally meaningful.

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.