When I was a hippie,
I would sometimes pick up a Bible and look for the “good parts.”
Leviticus chapter 3 would have been so defined,
simply because of its first verse.
“If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offering,
if he offers an animal from the herd, male or female,
he shall offer it without blemish before the LORD.”
Leviticus 3:1
We hippies were all about peace.
One of the quagmires that defined who I was consisted of the fact that I was immersed in the global struggle for peace for all.
Yet, I had no real peace myself.
Jeremiah understood me:
“They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying,
‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.”
Jeremiah 6:14
Isn’t it ironic that we can long for something in the world that we cannot even produce within ourselves?
But Jesus promised a peace that the world cannot give.
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”
John 14:27, NLT
Come to find out, the peace we were searching for all along was never something we could create.
It is a gift that only Jesus can give.