Love Life. Maintain Peace.

1 Peter 3:10-12 For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. 11 He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
 
DO you love life? There are probably several ways to answer this question. We may simply love being alive. Or we may love the people around us and things we get to do. We may love seeing the world or just enjoying our home. We may love life because God has blessed us with a good family, work and home.
   Peter helps us answer the question with some instruction from Psalm 34:12-16. In brief, you will love life if you: Keep your tongue from evil. Keep your lips from lies. Do good. Seek peace. Pursue peace. The first three could summarize much of God’s law. But what does it mean to seek peace and pursue peace?
   Another way to say this is to seek peace and maintain it (New Living Testament). The history of the world and the specific history of the Bible record conflict upon conflict. It begins with the conflict between Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. Conflict then escalates to a people so hateful and murderous God destroyed them in the Great Flood. Still, after the Flood, the human heart remained corrupt and warlike against one another. Tribes and nations have brutalized each other. Even generals and leaders have been called “great” because they were good at killing the enemy.
   Then Jesus seemed to encourage conflict when he said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34) Then he further spoke of division among families. Where’s the peace?   
   All conflict in the Bible originates in man’s decision to reject God. That’s Jesus’ point. He came to earth to reveal God’s peace in the obedience to God’s righteous Savior. There is a clear choice. Those who receive Jesus will have peace. Those who reject him will never have peace.
   To seek peace is to seek the inheritance of God’s blessing – the gift of his character. To maintain peace is to live into his character. Peter urged the church to be determined peacemakers. Remember Jesus also taught, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”  (Matthew 5:9) Seeking and maintaining peace is pursuing God. You decide that following Jesus is the sure way to love life.