Listen to today’s devo!

For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. (1 Thess. 4:7)

Expanded Passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7

Jake rose from his bed with a yawn, glancing back at Gwen, his beautiful bride of six years, still quietly resting on this Saturday morning. He softly went over to the next room to check on four-year-old Johnny, fidgeting on his bed. Wandering over to his favorite chair in the den, Jake settled in to read his Bible but decided to check his phone first. Slowly, he thumbed through the baseball standings, the morning news, and then turned to his favorite social media site. He noticed that he’d received a friend request. Jake drew his breath in surprise when he saw that it was from his old college girlfriend, a relationship he’d formed during his yearlong period away from God. Jake’s finger hovered over the “accept” button on his screen.

Jake thought again of Gwen and of his Bible sitting on the table next to his chair, and he felt the unmistakable twinge of his conscience as he realized that accepting this connection request would not be acceptable. He knew it could only reawaken something that should remain away from his mind. Allowing such a relationship was not only wrong but would also undermine the call that God had placed on him to “live a holy life.”

Jake hit the delete button, put down his phone, and opened his Bible.

Choose to live a holy life today.

Matt Friedman was a professor of global ministry at Kingswood University (NB)and previously served in southern Asia for eighteen years.

© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.