Tuesday Reading: Isaiah 32:17
Key Verse: Isaiah 32:17
17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the service of righteousness shall be quietness and hope forever.
Devotion:
So many times we think that we can keep the peace or that we can make peace but if truth be told, so long as we keep hold of our earthly ways we cannot hope for peace. Our earthly ways are not based on righteousness but rather on lust and pride in many guises leading only to conflict and strife rather than any hope of peace. If we should want peace in our land then we have to start with peace within every home. That peace cannot start with us because we have that same lust and pride engrained within us; that peace must start with God.
It is Christ who has suffered and died on the cross for our sake. It is Christ who has paid for our sins already and it is He alone who can take that lust and pride from our lives. It is only through trusting in Him that we will find that peace within our own hearts and only then can we take it with us; only then can we spread that peace – but not through us but rather through spreading that same catalyst that gave us the peace in the beginning – God’s Word.
Our best righteousness is nothing but strife when compared to God. When we wake up to that fact and start seeking God’s righteousness rather than our own then we will start to see a whole new picture of life, one that we have been blind to for as long as we strive to do our own good. Later in Isaiah 41 we are reminded that no matter how much we try to lift ourselves up in positions of gods, we will never attain to being God. Satan has tried and he has failed miserably. If someone as powerful as he cannot do it then we certainly have no right to even try. And yet many people will try. Romans 14:17 reminds us further that the kingdom of God is not focused on the things we focus on but rather on righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is time now for us to come forward upholding the Holy Spirit who comes with us so that He can guide us and keep us in perfect peace.
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are a good person?
Do you not know it has been tried before?
