June 6 Daily Devotional

Monthly Theme:

Peter's first epistle is addressed to "strangers in the world," who have their homeland in heaven. They are not surprised that they suffer when they do what is right. They follow the footprints of Jesus.

Bible Reading:

1 Peter 1:13–16

Bible Text:

It is written: "Be holy, because I am holy" (1 Pet. 1:16; Lev. 11:45).

Devotional:

Peter quotes the book of Leviticus, but he does not tell the people of the New Covenant to keep the laws of the Old Covenant. For we are not under the laws of Israel.

Yet we belong to the God of Israel and are dedicated to his service. Since we belong to this God, we must be shaped by his nature. Our conduct must model God's character. "Be holy, because I am holy."

We have heard people admit—maybe you yourself have said it—"Yes, I'm a Christian, but I am no Holy Joe." People who say this want others to know they are as ordinary as everyne else. Most Christians (and all teenagers) hate to be different from others.

Yet a person cannot become a Christian and remain unchanged. The Lord saves sinners—ordinary sinners. But as soon as we belong to the God of Israel, he insists that we become holy.

"Being holy" may sound unpleasant to us because of our stereotyped pictures of saints. Forget about those pictures. In many respects we will always be like everybody else, fot God never asks more or less of us than that we be perfectly human!

Yet God's rule is inescapable: Those who by grace have been received into God's company must reflect his intolerance of sin and the purity of his character.

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.