When I was a child it was usually pretty easy to figure out what I was interested in – a certain book, new skates, ice cream, or the company of my favorite person. I say that it was usually easy to figure out because all you had to do was observe me for a little while, and even the briefest amount of observation would give me away. You see, when I was interested in something I studied it, researched it, looked for it, and then pursued it until I obtained it. Now sometimes the obtaining was figurative because, let’s face it, I was a little girl without a job and some of those interesting things that I wanted required money. And if I did not have enough money saved up from my allowance and I was unable to procure the money from my parents, my ability to acquire the things that I wanted was limited.
It’s funny, though, that the things that I wanted back then were not really all that unique or hard to come by, and oftentimes what made them so interesting to me was the fact that my friends had them or I saw them on television and they looked so pretty. Yet, in His Word, God speaks of something that is more valuable than those little trinkets for which I would have done almost anything as a child. He speaks of peace. And though He does not mention its price or even where you go to obtain it, you know that it’s valuable because He says that we must seek and pursue it.
Dictionary.com defines the word seek as to go in search or quest of and it defines the word pursue as to follow in order to overtake, capture; to follow close upon; to strive to gain; to proceed in accordance with. When we put those definitions together we discover that we are to go in search of and continually follow after peace with the intent to overtake and capture it so that we can proceed in accordance with it. So, when the disciple Peter reveals to the early Church in 1 Peter 3:11 NIV (Psalm 34:14 NIV) that they must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it we are not left with an image of a person peeping their head out of a doorway timidly looking about for something that they may have lost, but rather our mind is filled with the image of a stealth lion stalking its prey, searching until it catches the scent of its desired treasure, sprinting non-stop after it in full pursuit, capturing it, and then carrying away on the journey its much-sought-after prize. This, my friends, is how we must pursue peace, as though our very lives depend on it, because, in a way, they do. Be blessed. #sanguinemango
Sanguine Mango 