January 18 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

John 6:66-71:

⁶⁶From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
⁶⁷Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
⁶⁸Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
⁶⁹And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
⁷⁰Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
⁷¹He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.

Devotional

At a time when many were leaving Jesus and were walking no longer with Him, our Lord asked the twelve, "Will ye also go away?" Then Peter said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." Today, also, many have turned from the teaching of our Lord, and we, too, would say to Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." Today, when many have turned from the Holy Scriptures, in which our Lord has given us His words of eternal life, we receive those Scriptures with thanksgiving and rejoicing, for they are in truth the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of the living God. We cannot turn to the "wisdom" of men, to human speculation, or to vain philosophies for the words of truth, authority, and life. We cannot commit our immortal souls to the false and changing doctrines of human cults and religions. They will all be discredited, and they and their followers with them will perish. By the grace of God, however, we will hearken to the Word of our God, which shall endure forever. That mighty Word, breathed by the Spirit of truth and blessed by Him, will not return void, but will accomplish that which God pleases and will prosper in the thing whereto He has sent it. Yes, to whom but our Lord can we go? Assuredly, He has the words of eternal life!

Welcome to "Think on These Things," a twelve-week daily devotional prepared by the late Dr. John H. Skilton, an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and for many years Chairman of the New Testament Department at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia.

We are indebted to P & R Publishing and Skilton House Ministries for permission to use this copyrighted material on the OPC Web site. (P & R held the copyright from 1975 to 2005, at which time they reassigned the copyright to Skilton House.)