What Are You Pursuing?
We all have hopes and dreams. At this very moment I’m sure there are goals that you have for your future. Somebody out there may be saving up for a car. Some team out there is focused on winning a championship. Maybe there is someone out there seeking a relationship. Most people have something they would like to accomplish thinking it would help them feel complete.
The Apostle Peter encourages us to seek and pursue something but it’s not really a goal for our physical life. It’s a goal that our world could use a whole lot more of. “For whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.” (1 Peter 3:10-11).
The thing he said to pursue would lead to living life and better days. Sign me up! What do I pursue? “Seek peace and pursue it.” A simple statement but a difficult endeavor. It calls to mind Indiana Jones or other great adventurers climbing mountains and trekking the desert to find some amazing prize. Seeking and pursuing sounds as though it’s not something that comes naturally or easily. If you take a few moments to scroll through the very first book of the Bible I think that thought will be confirmed.
While Peter, in context, is talking about peace with one another, there seems to be three major categories of peace—with God, with self, and with others. Yet, they all seem to be intertwined. Man had peace with God until Satan convinced Eve and Adam that life was complete without the fruit. There was internal conflict that lead to conflict with God. From there, things went downhill quickly. The next recorded sin is the murder of one of their sons, which was the direct result from conflict over sacrifices to God. Jesus even reminded his disciples that the two greatest commands were to love God and others (as you love yourself). Obviously, that love would involve peace.
Yet we all know peace isn’t easy. It must be pursued. When it is sought for and found, however, it is a blessing: “loving life and seeing good days.” Part of that pursuit involves watching what you say and do. Our actions and our tongues create a lot of the disruptions in the pursuit of the peaceful life. Earlier in 1 Peter 2:8 he also mentions the need to have “unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.”
Today let’s all seek peace. Our world needs it. This country needs it. Our churches need it. Every one of our hearts need it. Let the pursuit begin.
Ben
Photo by Nicolas Peyrol on Unsplash