April 18 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:

Colossians 2: 1–5

Bible Text:

... that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:2–3).

Devotional:

All religious sects, cults, and gurus claim to have an edge on the truth. They say they have something you and all ordinary Christians don't have. You may have the Bible, but you don't have the book that was translated from the golden plates by Joseph Smith. Or you don't know God's ancient revelation in the great pyramid. You may think you know God, but you don't really know the mysterious name of Jehovah. Or you don't know how the lost tribes of Israel came to live on the British Isles. You may think you know Jesus, but you don't really have him unless you have experienced what I have, were baptized the way I was, or were filled the way I was.

These weary attempts to improve on the gospel are as old as the church of Colosse. Here religious teachers had come to lead the congregation into greater knowledge, deeper wisdom, and higher truth. Paul warns the church against these teachers "so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments" (v. 4).

We should be deeply aware that the mystery of God has been disclosed, once for all, in the fullness of time, by the work and in the person of Jesus Christ. We know the mystery of God when we know Christ. The secret is out in the open.

So if we want to grow in wisdom and knowledge, you and I must learn to know Christ better. For in him "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

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.