Thursday the 1st

James 3:18                  

 

¹⁸Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

 

Blessed are the Peacemakers. The problem is, all to often we think of the peacemaker today as the one who caves, the one who always suggests to “drop it” or the one who is always looking for a way to make the problem go away. I don’t know about you, but that does not sound like someone I want to be. However being a peacemaker does not mean that you are a punching bag, or a doormat. It does not mean that you turn a blind eye, nor do you have to be tolerant (compassionate yes, but not tolerant). As a matter of fact a true peace maker will seldom find themselves in a peaceful situation, if that was the case they would be a peace follower, not a peacemaker. By it’s very name you can see that one must be in the middle of a situation where there is not peace to create peace. Paul was a peacemaker, yet when you read his letters you can see that he took on the current issues of the time, and held to his faith. He projected that faith as the platform of his argument for peace.  While Christ was the best example of peace, he always held people accountable. HE was always ready for the Sadducees, and the Pharisees. While his goal was peace, He would not waver in His teachings. If we look at Paul and Christ as an example then we see that a peacemaker will live among conflict, they will use their resources to bring peace through understanding, They will bring peace through sticking to the saving faith, that comes from Christ, and standing on that faith they will lead, not through words, but through their actions.  Today, words are a dime a dozen, it is the person who acts, that shows conviction. Faith, leads to conviction, and conviction to action. Peace will follow, but it will come by the tireless effort of the peacemaker, showing the world the way. This is why the Peacemaker will be blessed, not because he found a way out of the struggle, but because he would not give up. Not because he caved, but because he built a life on faith, and lived that faith. Not because he gave up in the name of  peace, but because he will never relent in his struggle to bring the Peace of Christ to everyone he touches. There is a peacemaker in all of us, will we allow it to come out? Can we be strong enough to face the challenge head on? It can be a daunting, and tiring task, but nothing ever came from a life that was an easy one.

 

Peace,

Brian