Weekly Devotional 4

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” - Colossians 3:15 ESV

In a world full of ideas, perspectives and story lines competing for your attention, God offers us a consistent foundation to rest in and even wrestle with daily challenges. He describes peace as the rule - the heavenly government of our heart.

Physically, the human heart is a beautifully complex organ. An adult heart beats 100,000 times a day, pumping five quarts of blood each minute throughout the body. In just one day, approximately 2,000 gallons of blood pumps through the heart. And that’s just the physical design!

The heart is also the emotional reservoir. Just like the mass volumes of blood our heart processes daily, it works spiritually to channel our discernment. God knew we would need a promise of confirmed calm when we sort through the multiple emotions we experience.

God shows us in Colossians 3 that the rule of our heart is peace. Peace is not the absence of turmoil; it is the evidence of God’s presence. He explains you have a calling - to be joined together with other believers as one body. The world needs the body of Christ to be vital, vibrant and victorious.

Many times callings are associated with what we do, but God encourages us that the commonwealth of faith is the Prince of Peace - Jesus. God wants us to be with Him, and then He directs us in what we do for Him. God wants us to know Him without the constraints of performance and comparison.

At the next onset of anxiousness or stress, culture’s “trending descriptors,” stop and remind yourself that God’s peaceful rule in you is already in place.

By Bridget Kerht-Groce, Glasgow First UMC, South Central District