Let Peace Rule.

Let Peace Rule.  Colossians 3.15

Logophile.  There, I said it.  I am a logophile.  Today I am coming out, coming clean, making my confession—I am a logophile.  I love words.  Learning about them, considering their origins, and endeavoring to expand my own vocabulary  - I find it all quite interesting.  Do you think differently of me now?

From time to time, looking at several different Bible translations broadens the meaning of the Scripture we are studying.  Most times, www.Biblegateway.com enables me to go from one to another, even considering them side by side, or listening to one and then another by clicking on the little speaker symbol at the top.  

Take a look with me please at Paul’s words to us on peace:

Verse 15 - And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.

Look at this please: “Let the peace of Christ be the decider of all things within your hearts, for it is to that peace you were called, so that you might be united in one body.”  The same word Paul used for ‘rule’ or ‘decider’ suggests we are to let the peace of Christ be the umpire in our hearts.  The verb Paul used was derived from the same word used in the athletic arena . . . <stay with me> it is the word that is used of the umpire who settled things in any matter of dispute.¹  Let the peace of Christ be the decider of all things within your hearts.  Friends, that means if there is a clash of feelings, a stepping on of pride, a pulling in two directions, a rending of our emotions, if we let the peace of Christ be the decider, we will choose the way of love. 

In recent days, I wrote, “In order to give mercy, I believe one has to experience mercy.”  With peace, the same is certainly true.  As I prayed this through this morning, I wrote in my prayer notebook, “O God, in order for me to truly be at peace with others, I must gain peace from you [which is my salvation]; in order to be at peace with you, I must learn what it is to abide, and do so; in order to apprehend and live in peace, I must trust you, O God . . . then, and only then can I be an instrument of your peace.”  In order to let the peace of Christ rule in my heart, I must experience that peace.  

Though heads of state endeavor to broker peace in our world, there is only One who brokers true peace. 

The only peace that is worthy of the name is Peace with God. 

God’s peace is not man-made,

         can’t be learned in a book

                  can’t be trumped up with enough good will. 

Our loving God offers his children a peace which is beyond human understanding!  We remember Paul’s words to the Philippians: Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.²  His peace makes it possible for you to be in a very difficult situation or relational struggle, and still know peace.   Peace that comes from God cannot be adequately or fully described, and it is certainly not available in the world.  Yet if I asked you to define God’s peace, and you have experienced it, your first thought would etch a smile on your face—your entire countenance would change just thinking about it.  Peace … sweet peace.

"Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee." St. Augustine said.  And he was right.  Jesus is the only source for true peace in our hearts, and we have immediate access to it. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.

1 William Barclay, Daily Study Bible - Colossians

2 Philippians 4.6-7