Verse of the Day for April 24

Paul has just listed what he has endured — troubled on every side, perplexed, persecuted, cast down — and then says something that would sound like denial from anyone with an easier life.

Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

Two processes running simultaneously in opposite directions. He does not pretend the first is not happening. Perish is a strong word and he chose it.

Day by day is the phrase that carries the weight. The renewal is not a single restoration but a daily one, running at roughly the same rate as the decline.

Which means on any given morning you may feel no net improvement at all, and the verse would still be true.

He calls the affliction light and momentary two verses later, and he is comparing it to something rather than measuring it in itself.

Ageing, illness and tiredness are not signs that the renewal has stopped. Paul has both running at once.

Day by day means today's renewal does not carry over. Ask again in the morning.