Peace on Earth?

I don't think so, some would say to the title of this post.

Things look pretty bad on earth. But when you think about it, things have always looked pretty bad on earth. We just haven't been around to see it. All we see is our own little world. Nothing has changed, though. Things are just the same as they've always been, since the Year One. God had barely got Adam and Eve created and dried off before they were up to mischief. Disobeying. And it's been that way ever since. So when will peace come?

We have good news! We have been given a gift for the world. That gift is peace. Well, what a silly thing to say . . . just look around you. Where is this peace?

A couple of thousand years ago some average folks were just sitting around doing their everyday chores when they were shocked and afraid to hear voices in the sky and to see angels who told them about a baby being born, and that he was bringing "peace on earth, goodwill to men". And so they did what the angels told them and found the baby in a place that felt completely familiar to them: a stable. They brought gifts and worshipped their Savior, who had come to them in a setting they understood. They believed. They obeyed. They had peace.

It really seems too simple, doesn't it? So simple that a child could understand it. A little child with a simple faith, who believes the baby Jesus came to save us from our sins and has brought us peace on earth, good will to men. So simple that we don't need an education, a degree, expertise in a field. In fact, maybe those things get in our way. We want to argue with it...and about it. And complicate it up. We're a little more sophisticated than that, after all. The plain fact is that we can't believe it. But it's the truth.

It is simple enough for anybody. The simple fact is that peace came to earth that night. Anybody can have that peace. It's free. Jesus comes to you right where you are, where you feel comfortable. All you need to do is ask Him to save you from yourself (your sinful condition), to be the Lord of your life and to tell you what to do from now on. Every day. And you obey (that's the hard part). And you will have peace.

Yes, Virginia, there is peace on earth.

Accept the gift of peace this Christmas.