Luke 2:24New International Version (NIV)

²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

Are you searching for peace? Peace is truly something everyone wants, yet few people find it. If you look up peace in the dictionary, it is defined as tranquility, harmony, or security. In the King James Bible it uses the word ‘peace’ 429 times in various forms.

Christmas is always a time when our focus goes to peace on earth and good will towards man. When I visited Israel in the spring of 2017, the Jewish people would say to each other, “Shalom”, which means, peace. Yet the nation itself have nations without peace on every border of their country.

So where is their peace, and can it really be obtained? Often I hear people tell others that, “I hope they fine peace.” I have found in my own life that peace is directly related to my actions and attitudes towards people. It is ultimately a gift from God.

When you go to your Bible and look up Isaiah 45:7, we find what God our Father says about peace. He says, “I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the Lord, am the one who does these things.”

Truly, God is the one who directs our peace which he gives as a gift. Maybe this is the best gift of Christmas. It is to have peace within yourself. The world will continue to have wars and people will have interpersonal conflicts with each other, but the Lord our God is the one who places his peace in our hearts so that we might share peace with each other.

Strength and Courage

Michael