1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian 8 - Blessed are the peacemakers | Page 5

disobeyed His first commandment and separation came between God and man at the
point of this sin. For peace to be restored between God and man there is need for
repentance to take place. It is through repentance that the restoration of peace can
be found. If there is no repentance there can be no restoration. In the story, we see
Moses pleading on behalf of the people that God would not judge them too harshly.
Moses’ dealing with the children of Israel was, however, clearly emphatic and the
people learned very quickly that there were consequences to sin. In this particular
case, the sin of the people was the sin of idolatry. I believe that idolatry, in our
particular context, simply infers that if we love anything more than God, we are
idolaters. The word “anything” literally means anything. If I love my family, friends,
career, money or anything else, more than I love God, I am an idolater. This is a
tough truth, but as we have said before, God will never settle for second place and
there will be no peace with God until He is number one!!

Prayer Thought: Today might be a good day for you, instead of judging the children
of Israel at the point of their idolatry, to check out your own life and make sure that
God, in your life, is number one. If He is not, then repentance and confession might
need to head your prayer list today.
PS…can I add to this by saying that there is nothing better than having peace with
God. When a guilty conscience is no longer a reality and a restored relationship with
your Creator is your experience, then the peace that comes from this condition will
be overwhelming.

Wednesday
Reading: Luke 10 v 38 – 42
Yesterday, we spoke about peace with God being lost at the point of sin. Today I
would like to suggest to you that peace with God can be lost when the Externals of
Disarray
isarray.
Your Life are in Disarray.
For peace with God to exist, we may need to adjust our priorities and our values and
remember the importance of putting first things first. In the story we read today of
Mary and Martha, we see peace being lost in the heart of Martha as a result of the
external issues of her life becoming overwhelming. My heart goes out to Martha
because what she was doing was good, but it was not the best. It is good to do as she
did and serve Jesus with passion, but the priority of worshipping Jesus was where
her problem lay. The day that Jesus arrived at their house, serves for us today as a
great object lesson of how to arrange the priorities and values of our own lives.
Martha was so busy serving Jesus and all the disciples, that she had become