I slept in on Black Friday, thank you. And felt smugly smart as I watched the buffalo stampedes on the news. Of course, so did those people leaving with a "you can't believe the price" flatscreen TV.
As I ventured into an eerily quiet "big box" store later in the day, I asked the clerk if she was getting combat pay. She just gave me a look that said, "You have no idea, buster." Watching the evening news reports of charging consumer armies, I mumbled to myself, "Peace on earth, huh?"
Much more troubling was a Thanksgiving week filled with awful images of death raining down from the sky in the Middle East. Given recent history, even the ceasefire may turn out to be just time to reload. There seem to be lit fuses all across the region, burning toward an explosion that could involve a lot of the world. And some say, echo Biblical prophecy.
Anger's in the air everywhere. Between political factions bickering over bloodshed in Benghazi and a looming "fiscal cliff." Between workers and big companies. Between governments and rioting mobs, threatening to overthrow them. And, of course, between nations bristling with deadly weapons, aimed at each other.
I get how that poet felt when he wrote "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" out of grief over the carnage of the Civil War. He said, "I hung my head; there is no peace on earth, I said, for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men."
And yet, the voices from heaven still proclaim, as they did to Bethlehem's shepherds, "Fear not." Followed by the announcement that Jesus' birth would bring "peace on earth."
But haven't there been nearly 2,000 years of war since then? No doubt. Yet countless millions, throughout the centuries - including me - testify that peace on this troubled earth is exactly what Jesus has brought them.
The Scriptures that foretold Jesus' coming proclaimed that "He will be called...the Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6) and that "He will shepherd His flock...and He will be their peace" (Micah 5:4-5).
The peace Christmas promises is not primarily a geopolitical phenomenon. It's a deeply personal peace - starting with peace with God.
The mess our world is in is because of the mess our hearts are in. Created by God to live His way, we have, as the Bible says "gone astray. Each of us has turned to His own way" (Isaiah 53:6). Rebels against heaven cannot make life work. So our hearts "are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest...there is no peace" (Isaiah 57:20-21).
I didn't understand the peace of Christmas until I understood the price of Good Friday. In that same Bible verse that describes us going our own way, God says of Jesus, "The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him."
I couldn't have peace with God until the hellish penalty for my sin was paid. And with a love like no other, Jesus went to a cross to pay it so I wouldn't have to.
So when I grabbed Jesus as my Rescuer from my sin, I really did get that "peace on earth." The peace of knowing my eternity is settled and death can't hurt me. Of daily living the plan I was created for. Of having God's resources to bring peace to my family and friends and coworkers. And the peace of knowing that whatever is bigger than I am, my Father is bigger than it is.
It's headline-proof peace. Recession and depression-proof peace. Terror-proof...disease-proof...even death-proof. Because it has nothing to do with what's going on around me - but Who is going on inside me.
Jesus really is the Prince of Peace. But you don't know His peace until He's your Prince.
| The peace that has always eluded us finally begins when the wall between us and God comes down. That's what happens when Jesus takes the wheel. If you'll visit YoursForLife.net, you'll see how His peace can finally be yours. |