OUR DAILY BREAD             Wed., April 26, 1995
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READ:  John 17:6-21

         IN THE WORLD BUT NOT OF IT

     "As You sent Me into the world, I
     also have sent them into the world."

                          - John 17:18

A young man who had entered a monastery wrote to
his father and told him how wonderful it was to be
there.  Every morning at 2 o'clock the men would
arise to chant ancient sacred songs.

His father, a wise and thoughtful man, wrote back,
"Dear Son:  Your mother and I are so happy to know
that you have found your vocation.  But always
remember one thing:  We too, and many parents like
us living in the world, have arisen on numerous
occasions at 2 o'clock in the morning to feed our
babies, and in the process have found our own vocation
equally sacred."

Living a God-honoring life in an evil world is not
primarily a matter of the right outer location but of
the right inner separation.  What's most important is
not where we live but how we live.  The essence of the
Lord Jesus' prayer for His followers in John 17 was
this:  "Keep them in the world, but keep the world out
of them."

But how can we maintain this "in the world but not
of it" balance?  Only by regularly taking into our
hearts the Word of truth and obeying the Word (v. 17).

We must live in the world, but let's make sure we keep
the world and its values from living in us.

                                -- Dennis J. De Haan

        In this world but never of it;
        Help me, Lord, to live this day
       Free from all that would entangle
            Of the dazzle and array.

                                -- Graves

-----------------------------------------
             THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
-----------------------------------------
               Take in the Word
             to keep out the world.
-----------------------------------------
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  2 Chronicles 10-13

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