Advent Devotional - December 12

December 12 Peace

“And peace to men on earth”

Pray

Teach me, Lord, not to seek the peace of this world, which is too often just a compromise on the road to Babylon; instead, help me to rely utterly, totally upon You and so to find a peace that nothing and no-one can ever take away. Amen.

Read – Luke 2:14

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Reflect

Peace is the precious gift that sees us free from outside intrusion. A nation is at peace when its borders are not threatened and its security is assured. A heart is at peace when it is not under condemnation and it rests in a condition of mercy.

When, in Old Testament times, an Israelite wished his neighbor “Shalom,” he meant both kinds of peace. “May your home and your crops be undisturbed. May you harvest what you have grown without fearing the violence of evil men. And may your heart be right with God since you know His Law and keep His commands.” Eventually, “shalom” came to have a more rounded meaning than merely the absence of conflict. It meant “well-being, wholeness and prosperity.” Peace was seen as the re-establishment of the beauty and order of God’s original creation. To be at peace was to know something of paradise.

Something of paradise came to a stable while shepherds watched in wonder. The Child would, one day, satisfy the demands of the Law as mortals never could. He was the embodiment of God’s desire to recapture the well-being of creation before the Fall. As the Second Adam, Christ came to restore that which had been broken by the rebellion of every human heart. And He did it at the cost of His own. The Prince of Peace did not rule by decree; the victory He won, over sin and death and hell, was not achieved by the sword but by sacrificial love. The “shalom” we now share is not the absence of conflict, it is the presence of our Savior.