"Peacemaking Brings Glory To God" 1 Samuel 25:
28 And please forgive the offense your servant has caused; because Adonai will certainly establish my lord’s dynasty, for my lord fights Adonai’s battles, and nothing bad has been found in you all your life long. 29 Even if someone comes along searching for you and seeking your life, your life will be bound in the bundle of life with Adonai your God. But the lives of your enemies he will fling away as if from the pouch of a slingshot. 30 Then, when Adonai has done all the good to my lord that he has said about you and made you ruler over Isra’el, 31 what happens here will not have become an obstacle to you or a cause for remorse to my lord, neither that you shed blood without cause nor that my lord took vengeance into his own hands. Finally, when Adonai has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant.”
32 David said to Avigayil, “Blessed be Adonai the God of Isra’el, who sent you today to meet me; 33 and blessed be your tactfulness, and blessed be yourself for having kept me today from the guilt of shedding blood and taking vengeance into my own hands. 34 For as Adonai the God of Isra’el, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you hadn’t rushed to meet me, not even one male would have been left to Naval by morning!” 35 So David received from her what she had brought him, then said to her, “Go up in peace to your home. I have listened to what you said and granted your request.”
(Complete Jewish Bible).Whether we realize it or not, conflict costs us dearly. Whatever it is—money, time, relationships, our emotional well being, or future opportunities—conflict will always cost us something. As such, there are very practical benefits when we choose to engage in peacemaking. Simply put, peacemaking saves valuable resources—material, social, and personal—that otherwise would be consumed by conflict.
But our motivation to engage in peacemaking is not just practical. We engage in peacemaking because it brings glory to God. Every time we take a step toward the other, we are acting as agents of reconciliation. No matter how big or small, every time we serve as peacemakers, we are enacting God’s desire for all of creation; that is, to be reconciled to God and one another.
May we always be ready to speak a word of peace so that the cycle of conflict, which seems to be all around us, will be broken. May we always be ready to take a step toward the other, as a reminder that God first took a step toward us. Thanks be to God.
Hymn for Today: "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" Latin Hymn.
1. O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
2. O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who ordered all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show
and teach us in its ways to go.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
3. O come, O come, great Lord of might,
who to your tribes on Sinai's height
in ancient times did give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
4. O come, O Branch of Jesse's stem,
unto your own and rescue them!
From depths of hell your people save,
and give them victory o'er the grave.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
5. O come, O Key of David, come
and open wide our heavenly home.
Make safe for us the heavenward road
and bar the way to death's abode.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
6. O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
7. O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
but envy rots the bones. (Proverbs 14:30).
Please pray: That people in the areas of the Asia-Pacific who are resistant to the Gospel will have an opportunity to hear God's Grace and Forgiveness.
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