PEACE ON EARTH
BY PASTOR KAYLA STRAND
“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” — Luke 2:13-14 (NKJV)
Are you in need of peace this Christmas season?
Christmas shopping, Christmas cookies, Christmas cards, Christmas movies, Christmas celebrations. These are the usual festivities that come along with celebrating Christmas with loved ones, and yet sometimes the very last thing we feel in the midst of it all is peace. There is so much busyness, so much noise, and so much to do; when all we may want is a little bit of quiet.
The job of a shepherd is far from quiet. The work can be hard and long and taxing. Watching over the sheep, protecting them from wolves that would try to eat them, and correcting them when they try to wander astray. It is anything but easy. But after a hard day’s work, underneath a starry sky, what came next was completely out of the ordinary. An angel announcing that a Savior has been born. And then if that wasn’t enough, there came a huge company of angels declaring, Glory to God in the highest; and peace on earth, goodwill towards men.
I began to ask myself, why was that a part of the Christmas story? Why did that happen? Why did they find the need to send a bunch of angels to the Earth to give glory to God in front of these shepherds? And then it dawned on me; that was their natural response to such marvelous news. The angels were a perfect example of how our response can be to the birth of Jesus. First, they gave glory and praise to God. And then they came declaring a message of peace and hope.
God has sent our Savior! We are saved at last! Peace has finally come, and it has come in the most unlikeliest of ways… in the form of a Baby born in a barn and laid in a feeding trough. Jesus came to bring peace between us and God. He is our mediator and our peace.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for sending Your Son to bring us peace with You. I am so humbled and blessed by Your gift and want the same excitement to overflow as I share the gift of peace that is offered to all.
