April 25 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 3:5–11

Bible Text:

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality ... greed (Col. 3:5).

Devotional:

If we want to live tomorrow, we must die today. And if we die today, we have nothing to fear when death comes tomorrow.

Our death in Christ is something that has taken place; it is also a command for us to obey. The fact of the gospel—that we "died with Christ" (Col. 2:20)—and the command of the gospel—to "put to death" the old self—belong together. We show we believe the fact of the gospel when we obey the gospel's command.

Put to death the old self is a mighty strong command. Our age is soft on sin. We tend to explain and excuse impurity, lust, and greed. After all, these are basic human—especially male—appetites. All animals, including human "animals," live to gratify their desires. It might be unhealthy to curb and restrain our natural instincts—this is the argument thrown at us from every side.

But we Christians find life in Christ. We kill our evil desires before they kill us. Of course, that's easier said than done. It takes a lifetime of steady fighting against sin and a lifetime of feeding the new life from God. We can never do the one without doing the other.

The best way to chase away the darkness is to open the curtains to the light.

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.