When I think of the word peace I imagine something like this:
or this:
I rarely imagine this:
But the Bible tells us again and again that we must pursue peace.
We don’t have to look far to understand this truth. We eat and create dirty dishes daily. What if we didn’t wash dishes? Ever. Actually, I don’t need to imagine. I can just think back to my first apartment the summer after my sophomore year of college.
Three boys had lived there during the school year. One had never done dishes. Or thrown away opened cans of food. Apparently the landlord was too scared to clean for us, too. (Ew!)
Cleanliness requires effort. Peace does too.
“Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it,” (Psalm 34:14).
To have spotless dishes, we wash them with soapy water. To have peaceful minds, we bathe them in the truth of the Word.
–> Are you pursuing peace or hoping it will just happen to you?
When I am anxious, I need to make an effort to open my Bible, find time alone, and pray. It may not change my circumstances, but time with God definitely changes me.
Lord, give us energy to pursue Your peace and the discipline to immerse ourselves in Your Words everyday. Amen.
I agree that pursuing peace takes effort and discipline. I am currently hard at work, trying to change old, destructive patterns of thinking so that they are life-giving patterns that line up with God’s Word. It’s difficult, but the end result will be worth it!
Beautiful message eloquently stated. Thank you.