During one season of my life I trained with the military. A lot of the training seemed to be about keeping a high shine on our boots. Someday, Isaiah tells us, someone will throw the world’s last combat boot into a fire. It will burn and never be replaced. That someone will be called the Prince of Peace.
Over thousands of years, people have turned weapons against one another to kill and conquer. According to the Global Peace Index, all but ten of the world’s countries were involved in some form of war during 2016. But the good news is this: it’s all going to end. Every last bit of it. The last boot. The last weapon. The last shot. The last bomb. The last tears. An amazing truth. An incomparable hope.
To us — yes, to us! — Isaiah prophesies that a child will be born and a son given. He will take the world’s governments on his shoulder and wars will end. He will be a “Prince.” We will call Him “Wonderful.” He will bring peace as it has never been known through all the bloody, pain and grief-filled history of humanity.
Isaiah foretold of Jesus. Only Jesus can bring peace to the world, but as children of the Prince of Peace we do not have to wait until His return to start the process. James, in his letter in the New Testament, encourages us with these words ― “and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:18). Hear the words of our Prince as He stood on a Galilean hillside, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). Peace on earth begins with Jesus working in you and me.
Dear Prince of Peace, help me to be at peace and to make peace. I want to follow you. Amen.
Go Deeper ― Is there something you can do for someone this week to sow seeds toward a harvest of peace in a very practical way? Ask the Prince of Peace to help you accomplish it.
Further reading: How to Pray When Relationship is Broken