May 16 Daily Devotional

A stranger in the world below,
I calmly sojourn here;
Nor can its happiness or woe
Provoke my hope or fear

The great fact of which we must never lose sight is that in this life we are but pilgrims. We are walking through this world under the eye of God, in the direction of God, and towards our everlasting hope....

That is the great principle taught in Hebrews 11. Those mighty men, those great heroes of the faith, had but one purpose. They walked "as seeing him who is invisible." They said they were "strangers and pilgrims on the earth"; they were making for "a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."

So when God called out Abraham, he responded. He turned to a man like Moses who had amazing prospects in the Egyptian court and commanded him to leave it all and to become a miserable shepherd for forty years, and Moses obeyed.... And so with all of them.

What made Abraham ready to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac? What made all the other heroes of the faith prepared to do the things they did? It was that they desired "a better country, that is, an heavenly."

... If we have a right view of ourselves in this world as pilgrims, ... everything falls into its true perspective. We shall immediately take a right view of our gifts and our possessions. We begin to think of ourselves only as stewards who must give an account of them. We are not the permanent holders of these things....

The worldly man thinks he himself owns them all. But the Christian starts by saying, "I am not the possessor of these things; I merely have them on lease; I cannot take my wealth with me; I cannot take my gifts with me; I am but a custodian of these things." And, at once, the great question that arises is: "How can I use these things to the glory of God? ...

It is to Him that I shall have to render up an account of my stewardship.... Therefore, I must be careful how I use these things. I must do all the things He tells me to do in order that I may please Him."

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, ii, p. 84

---

“Text reproduced from ‘A First Book of Daily Readings’ by Martyn Lloyd-Jones, published by Epworth Press 1970 & 1977 © Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes. Used with permission.”

Comments on D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, A First Book of Daily Readings

"These gems of evangelical truth, biblically based, help the reader to understand this world in the light of the Word." —Church Herald

"Christ-honoring, thought-provoking discussions" —Presbyterian Journal

"Few daily devotional books offer as much substantial insight as this one." —Christian Bookseller

"...will help to either open or close your day." —Evangelize