a story about peace

Do yourself a favor, open up a Bible. Go ahead, it will be worth it. Read John chapter 1 verses 1-18. Read it again.

And again.

And again.

Let it change you. Let perspective overcome you. It will be worth it, I promise. Untie some of the convoluted language. Take it plainly.

Let your heart rest in the reality that through Jesus the world came to be and through him the world is restored.

The whole of history, the drama that we live in, the trials and the tribulations of our lives all boil down to one simple truth.

Through Jesus the world came to be and through him the world is restored.

In Jesus is found life or as John puts it, "the light of man". We are unlit lanterns, Jesus is the match.

Through Jesus the world came to be and through him the world is restored.

As I read through the first few chapters of John this morning, I felt myself being unwound. Weeks of stress and weighty obligation began to lift and in its place came life giving perspective.

Through Jesus the world came to be and through him the world is restored.

The ridiculous simplicity of it all makes me want to chuckle at my last few days, days of stress and insecurity. Days in which I have felt all too important and all to unqualified.

Through Jesus the world came to be and through him the world is restored.

Throughout scripture Jesus will call me servant, worker, disciple, teacher and friend. All important roles, all carrying a certain degree of responsibility. But they never overrule a simple and life-giving truth;

Through Jesus the world came to be and through him the world is restored.

Rest in that truth friends. Remember who Jesus is. John calls him the "One and Only", other times he is called "the beginning and the End".

If we can slow down and make ourselves stop and dwell in that truth, it will change us. I am trying to allow it to change me. The weight of expectation can slip away. The ridiculous clamoring of doing everything right can finally begin to slow down. The guilt of what we have done and have not done can begin to look small in the light of Jesus.

So please, rest with me in a simple truth...

Through Jesus the world came to be and through him the world is restored.