I love lighting my home with candles at Christmastime. There is something about the scent and soft flicker of flame that soothes me. It just makes the mood in the room seem peaceful. The sad part about candles though is that they go out. Like all earthly things, in a split second the warmth and light are gone. And the feeling of peace goes with it.
That is what happens when we seek anything other than Jesus for true peace. It isn’t substantial or lasting, and we end up needing another boost of light, a new candle, a new lighter, and then another.
Luke 2:14 says, the night Jesus was born that the multitude of angels who appeared to the shepherds said “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth PEACE among those with whom he is pleased.” I think about how many things they could have said. I mean this was the long-awaited Savior! The Jews had been waiting for the Messiah to save them, to crush their enemies, and yet the angels were bringing a message of God’s beautiful promise of PEACE on earth…
Our world is filled with chaos and loud voices who think they know best, but we have access to a peace that the world cannot extinguish, from the Prince of Peace. God’s peace isn’t temporary. We can hear this echoed in Isaiah 26:3. “Those who draw near to him, whose minds are focused on him, they will stay in perfect peace.”
The next time you light your favorite Christmas candle, watch the glowing flame light the room, and think about the true light of the world who came to save us, to bring us his peace…shalom. His light will never go out.