January 9 – Peace
James Tower
Holy Harvest
Read: Galatians
5:22-26
Galatians
5:22 reminds us that peace is a byproduct of divine love, the very work the
Holy Spirit labors toward. This is a miracle, and nothing short of
participation in the very nature of God. We often speak of the “fruits” of the
Spirit, yet in the Greek, “fruit” is singular. In our day and age we have lost
sight of the inherently destructive and labor-intensive process of “sowing and
reaping.” Now, wanting fruit, we simply walk into a store, pay, and walk out
with it. In the ancient world it was not so. Sowing happened in its season; the
hands of people and the legs of animals tore at the earth. Even children helped
by scattering seed. God brought the rain, the sun, the life. After months of
stewardship—patient waiting, pruning, weeding and guarding from pests and
predators—the first fruits would come. Then, the fruit would swell and bloom,
filling the field. Harvest was hard work, but also a time of celebration!
We should
expect nothing less from seeking peace. You cannot walk into a store and buy
peace. It is like farming: a journey, a process. There are no shortcuts. It is
a dirty, messy affair involving broken skin, calluses and lots of waiting. It
will require God’s grace to provide spiritual water and light and to bring
life, but also people who want peace badly enough to get their own hands dirty.
We as a church must be in tune with the seasons, and be willing to rip the
ground and toss the seeds with our own hands. Vineyards do not happen by
accident! Peace requires both God and humans to work together spreading life
where once was only dust and weeds. We cannot expect to “reap peace” and taste
its fruit at harvest if we are not planting—in love—its seeds today.
Prayer:
Look at the tags on
your clothing for their countries of origin and pray Christ’s peace for the
people who live there, especially the hands that labored to make them.
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