When God created the heavens and the earth, He looked at everything and said, "It is very good." Creation
was truly at peace with its Maker. Then dominion was given to people. The first generation of people disobeyed.
The second generation murdered. Succeeding generations devolved until the thoughts of people were "only evil
always." Recognizing God's holiness and yearning for a relationship with the Creator drifted father and farther
from their sense of reality. They replaced the peace which passes understanding with conduct that went beyond
the pale of reason. Peace was lost.
Before getting too judgmental, though, we all need to consider where we stand with the Creator. Perhaps we do not
consider our thoughts to be "only evil always," but are our thoughts only holy always? Probably not! The truth is
that much of the world swings between bland apathy toward God and overt rejection of God. Sometimes we find pockets
of affinity, but we only fool ourselves if we think that we come anywhere close to approaching holiness. Unless we
find a way to restore our relationship with God, there can be no peace. Praise the Lord, He has provided that way!
From our limited, human perspective there are good eras and bad eras. We usually associate the good times with
peace. There is nothing new in this. The Psalmist cried out for peace. Prophets foretold the coming of Christ
as the Prince of Peace. He said to His disciples, "I leave you with peace, I give to you my peace." Peace is a
fruit of the Spirit, and Christ will return to reign in peace. The creation that began at peace with God will end
at peace with God. And we live somewhere in between.
Peace was not lost on writers of hymns. It is an ancient theme with eternal value. It moved the hymnists. It moves
us. It moves the world. Enjoy hymns of peace. Pray for peace. Live in peace.
Be at peace. Be Christ like. Be Christian. CARadke
