Psalm 34
"seek peace and pursue it"
It's difficult to think that there are another 5 words that are more relevant to our day than these 5. All around us it seems that things are spiraling out of control, socially, economically, politically, rhetorically, religiously, etc, etc. A day doesn't go by without one negative story after another on the news and dominating our Twitter and Facebook feeds. And sure, there are the occasional 'good' news stories out there, but they are quickly forgotten with the next bombing or shooting or accident or... No one seems to have an answer to it all, and those who could possibly be of help put their heads in the sands and say if only _______ would happen it would all be okay, or if only _________ got elected, or if only _________ would be quiet, if only __________ would move on.
The thing though is that some of us do have an answer and it is very much wrapped up in Good News. Jesus came to this earth to show us God's great love, but he also came to this earth to show us how to live rightly while on earth.
Jesus didn't spend much time on bad news, nor did he spend much time on laying waste to those ideas or people which he disagreed with. Jesus spoke about the life giving ways that he knew, not the life taking ways that others upheld. We need to spend time speaking about the Good News and not waste our time speaking about the bad news.
Jesus hung out with those that the world had either thrown to the curb or simply forgotten about. We cannot shun them.
Jesus reached out his hands. We must reach out our hands.
Jesus lifted up his voice. We must lift up our voices.
Jesus poured out his heart. We must pour out our hearts.
Jesus gave grace. We must give grace.
Jesus gave hope. We must give hope.
Jesus showed love. We must show love.
Jesus lived a life of peace. We must live a life of peace.
Jesus wasn't passive. We must not be passive.
We must seek peace, and pursue it, because only by keeping an eye out for peace and running after it can we ever hope to embody it, like Jesus did.
+ How can you begin to focus on the Good News instead of the bad news?
+ What tangible way can you seek peace and pursue it in your context?
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