Daily Devotions
Friday, August 29, 2025
This devotion pairs with this weekend’s Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at lhm.org.
John 1:23 – [John the Baptist] said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah has said.”
Years ago, I came across two sentences that have had a profound impact upon my spiritual life. One was in a devotional written by Rev. Arnold Kuntz in Devotions for the Chronologically Gifted. He writes, “Life narrows down, and crisis comes. And suddenly only one thing matters, and there, in the narrow place, stands Jesus.” The other sentence was a bit of Old Testament wisdom from Ecclesiastes 12:1a, “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth.”
As I grew into my early adult years, life was opening up. These are the days when we are alive with hopes and dreams for the future. And so it should be, but sooner or later, the narrowing comes; faith becomes personal; and we know we are going to our Creator. “So teach us to number our days,” the psalmist writes, “that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).
Like John the Baptist in the verse above, he didn’t know Jesus of Nazareth as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world until God revealed it to him, and then he believed. So it is with us. We can dutifully pull off all the slick, outward appearances of religion, but unless God’s Word is received through faith in our hearts, we have no way out, as life narrows and crisis comes.
So, what is the good news for us today? It is this: that life narrows down, and we look to Jesus. How does this narrowing come down to you? Through illness? Through conflict and strained relationships? Through advancing age? Yes, such troubles often come and do shift our focus more and more to the eternal. Some of the best narrowing comes through daily repentance, too. We are not to go into the wilderness just once to hear John’s message, and then return to our old ways of doing things. Daily we should seek God. Young people should not put off repentance until gray hair. Busy adults should not put off repentance until they imagine they’ll have more leisure time. Who knows how much time any of us has? As the writer of Hebrews tells us, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 4:7b). The good news is that the narrowing of this life is inevitable, but when the crisis of judgment for our sins comes upon us, there stands Jesus.
And so may we sing the words of “Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates” in love and gratitude to what God has done for each of us in the Gift of His Son: “Redeemer, come, we open wide our hearts to Thee: here Lord, abide. Let us Thy inner presence feel, Thy grace and love in us reveal; Thy Holy Spirit guide us on, until the glorious crown be won.”
WE PRAY: Heavenly Father, draw us unto Jesus to cling to Him in faith. In His Name we pray. Amen.
This Daily Devotion is based on “Life Narrows Down,” a sermon from Rev. Dr. Dale Meyer, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour.
Reflection Questions:
- Has your view of life and its possibilities changed (good or bad) over time? Why?
- What value is there in numbering our days (being mindful of our life span) in the short term? Long term?
- Is it easier today for people to harden their hearts toward God than it was 20 years ago? 40 years ago? If so, why might that be?
Today's Readings:
2 Chronicles 10-122 Corinthians 3