THE CHILDREN'S PEACE

There is a wonderful promise in prophecy that "All thy children shall be taught of Jehovah, and great shall be the peace of thy children". It is evident therefore that true peace depends on the knowledge of the Lord. Boys and girls of today will not have known the deep human feelings of relief felt when peace is proclaimed after wartime sufferings. These feelings are always mingled with both joy and grief for victors as well as for vanquished. Yet in God's ways many persons in wartime would have found in their souls a deep and lasting peace perhaps not otherwise known.

One such incident at the battle of Sedan concerned a Prussian officer who graciously asked a severely wounded infantryman if anything could be done to relieve his sufferings. But it was too late to help. The soldier's only request was to take the well worn Testament from his knapsack and read to him the words of the Lord Jesus, "Peace I leave with you: my peace I give unto you". About to pass from time into eternity the believer just felt the need to be confirmed in the peace of soul which had long been his joy. The words were read and the soldier said with failing voice, 'Thank you, Sir. Keep the Testament, it led me to Jesus, it will lead you as well'.

The wounded man fell asleep through Jesus. As for the officer much passed through his mind in a few moments of time. He thought of this bright light of testimony, of his reckless and infidel friends and of his mother whose hope had been in the Lord and whose death he could never forget. The answer to all this may be read in the fact that a small gravestone stands on the old battlefield of Sedan with the name and regiment of a Prussian soldier. It was set up and cared for by an officer high in command and bears a quotation from the Bible.

There is a well known 'peace' hymn (No.390) experienced and written by one of noble birth who surrendered much for the Lord. One line is 'Peace with God - the Lord is risen'. The hymn is a beautiful outpouring of a spirit in the joy of the peace that is promised at the opening of almost every epistle in the New Testament. In the Revelation the source of peace is in One "who is, and who was, and who is to come". Is Christ Himself your peace?

J.C.Evershed