Matthew 5:9 AMPC
[9] Blessed (enjoying enviable happiness, spiritually prosperous–with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they shall be called the sons of God!
As Jesus preached his first Sermon on the Mount, the crowd was there at the foot of the mountain, and His disciples seated with Him at the top. Both sets of people were listening to Him teach, but the demands are not for the crowd. You do not make demands from those who are not subject to your authority, or under the sphere of control and dominion that you have and that they recognise, accept and submit to. This was clear from the introduction to the Sermon, where Jesus laid down the principles of His kingdom, and the expectations of the ruler of that kingdom. The verse above speaks about those who make and maintain peace. This requirement is very important to the kingdom of God, as you have its ruler called the Prince of Peace. You cannot give what you do not have, and you cannot maintain something that you did not create. Before I start to talk about making peace, the important question would be: "Do I know the Prince of Peace?"
Does He know me as His own? I note from the verse above that it refers to those who MAKE and MAINTAIN peace. It means that peace is not a wish or an automatic setting; it is the product of a conscious pursuit, where I have to go all out to seek, pursue and establish it in my own sphere of influence and control. In making peace, like we said above, you need to have the ingredients for peace. I need to have Him in control of my life, so that He can then live out the principles of peace in and through me. The reason why peace is also critical here is not because it means that there would not be conflicts or flash points, but for me, I vote for peace. Let the whole world seek war, in line with its nature, I will rather seek peace and pursue it, because it is all I have. You cannot give what you do not have. I cannot fake the contents of my heart; over time, its contents will be laid bare for all to see. What is in my heart at the moment, and can I bear to see them revealed to the world?
To maintain peace is to ensure it is default setting for all I do. I note that the men of the world will not always understand this setting, but I just have to keep at it. There will be trouble because of this setting sometimes, but because I answer to a higher calling, I do not give up. The reward for this setting is to be called the sons of God. Of course, I look like the One I behave like. Even by human standards, we see a child act in a certain way, and we know s/he is like the father or mother; in the same way, by my actions, I show who my father is. The Lord calls me blessed, and the world sees me as His child. I have and make impact down here on earth, and I also have an eternal home waiting for me in heaven at the end of the earthly sojourn. There is no one else who can make such a promise and keep it. I owe it to my present generation as well as the legacy that God wants me to lay down for future generations to represent Him properly. Are you? Am I? God's time of favour is here.
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