But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. This One will be our peace. Micah 5:2,5
Personally, I can’t think of a more unpeaceful time than the holidays. Every year we rev up and get ready for the long lines, short tempers and people honking their way to the next shopping destination. Online shoppers are just as anxious with the fear of getting hacked. We may have Christmas music playing softly in the background to keep things jolly, but truth be told we’re frazzled.
All of this is just the veneer. Can we go deeper still? How many folks will try to get a last minute appointment before Christmas day with their therapist? What numbers could we calculate of those who will drink their way through the season? What about the children, young and adult who must go to two separate homes to spend a few hours with mom and a few hours with dad.
We are living in a disillusioned age. The high hopes of the humanitarians, the enlightened thoughts of the philosophers, and the progressive mind of the politically correct, have been mocked. World wars, political unrest, and celebrated evil has left mankind to grasp what only eludes its hopes.
One of the many attributes of our glorious Savior is peace. When the prophet Micah spoke to God’s people he was compelled to communicate this all important aspect of peace when prophesying about the Messiah. Why? Because since the garden tyranny, oppression and unrest have been with us. That one fateful day when Adam and Eve took Satan’s propaganda over God’s paradise, internal and external unrest have spoken through the ages.
What was the peace that Micah, Isaiah and the many prophets spoke about regarding Jesus? What was it that God, the Creator was saying to His creation?
According to the Bible, God sent His Son into the world to save sinners. He alone would reconcile all that was unreconciled between God and man because of sin. All who have ever thought they can get along Him are telling their story of vanity, vileness and delusion. Until we own the truth that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, until we embrace this Christ who came to do all the we have failed to attempt apart from Him.we will only ever know a pseudo peace at best. We can meditate and medicate all we want but reality cannot be escaped.
That sublime little manger holds One who’s birth would bring the peace long sought for by the poet and the prostitute, the educated and the ignorant, those in Beverly Hills and those in the back alley’s.
Come Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free
From our fears and sins release us
Let us find our rest in Thee
Israel’s strength and consolation
Hope of all the earth Thou art
Dear desire of every nation
Joy of every longing heart
