So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. — Judges 6:24
One of God’s names in the Bible is Yahweh-Shalom, which means the Lord is Peace. The Hebrew word for peace, shalom, means wholeness in all of life, completeness, welfare, safety. God is our source of all of these blessings.
Philosopher Cornelius Plantinga explains shalom like this: “In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight — a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom He delights.”1
That’s what we long for in our journey toward physical and spiritual health: flourishing, wholeness, and delight. Picture the doors flung open and our Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) welcoming us into a place.
Food For Thought
The Prince of Peace welcomes us to a place of flourishing, wholeness, and delight.
Cornelius Plantinga Jr., Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), 10.
Excerpted with permission from The Daniel Plan 365-Day Devotional by The Daniel Plan Team, copyright The Daniel Plan.
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Do you feel welcomed into a place of peace? Read the definition of shalom again. Do you know that God wants to give you all of it? Come join the conversation on our blog. We want to hear from you about the Lord being our peace! ~ Devotionals Daily