Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Peace”
Our Bible verse for today: “Proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or not; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching. For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine …” 2 Timothy 4:2-3
Our thought for today: “We want peace, but not peace at any cost.”
Paul instructed Timothy to persist in proclaiming Biblical truth whether the people wanted to hear it or not. Paul predicted a time when people would be so eager to hear soft fuzzy teaching that tickled their ears and warmed their hearts that they would not accept Biblical truth. That would present difficulties for those daring enough to proclaim the truth and yet Timothy and the others were to persist.
The same is true in our day. As Christians we want to get along with our family members, neighbors, co-workers, and society at large. We don’t want people to be mad at us or to take actions against us. We would prefer to live at peace – in harmonious relationships with everyone. But we have to be careful we’re not seeking peace at any price. We can’t compromise Biblical truth in favor of getting along and going along.
Billy Graham once wrote, “We have our peace movements, and all we want is peace – abroad and at home. But if by peace we mean appeasing tyranny, compromising with gangsters, and being silent because we haven’t the moral fortitude to speak out against injustice, then this is not real peace. It is a false peace. It is a farce and it is a hoax.”
As Christians we do want peace, but more than that we want truth and justice. There will never be true peace until it is the peace of Jesus Christ that reigns in the hearts and minds of individuals and in society at large. But people will not discover the peace of Christ if we His followers are silent. It’s up to us proclaim the message of peace in Christ and it’s up to us to stand strong for Biblical principles – even in the face of opposition.
Yes we do want peace, but not peace at any cost.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 