Peace on Earth to . . .

One of the most misquoted verses in the Bible is found in Luke chapter two. It's the account of Jesus' birth being announced to the Shepherds. The way we most often hear this verse is,

“Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to everyone.”

Sounds nice. Right?

The problem of course is that if you look around you'll notice that we as a people are a long, long way from peace, both in the world and within ourselves.

Some people say this is a sign of the Bible being wrong.

Well, I really can't help those people, other than to point out that this is not what the verse says. The verse actually says,

"Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace to all those upon whom His favour rests," or as some translations put it, "Peace on earth to all those who are pleasing to Him."

That's pretty important I think. The peace of God is never promised to all people. And it is never promised as something external. It is never promised as some type of freedom from violence or difficulty. As Christians, we were never promised nor do we expect to receive freedom from life's pain and suffering. We were never promised freedom from the storms of life. However, we do receive peace in the midst of the storm.

To remain an enemy of God is to be unfamiliar with inner peace.

Who would choose something like that?

Merry Christmas

God Bless

Happy Holy Days 

"Here dead we lie, because we did not choose

To shame the land from which we sprung

Life, to be sure is nothing much to lose,

But young men think it is, and we were young."

A.E. Housman