The Shalom of Jesus

UV 3387/10000 The Shalom of Jesus

The Lord will make you the head (leader) and not the tail ( follower); and you will be above only, and you will not be beneath, if you listen and pay attention to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today, to observe them carefully.
Deuteronomy 28 v 13

Very often in today’s world, we find that believers are not in the lead positions and are often sidelined because of the uncompromising principles and biblical values they stand for. So how does this uni-verse that promises that the faithful follower of Jesus will be the leader, who is always at the top and not at the bottom of the totem pole or hierarchy, play out in reality. The word “top” has a hidden meaning in it- “tabernacle of peace.” Since the Lord is “tabernacled” or resident in us, He is our ultimate as well as immediate leader. Regardless of the position we hold in this world, He will give us perfect peace which eludes the worldly. We are no longer the blind led by the partially blind but the visionaries of God led by the all knowing and all seeing Lord.

Being led by the Lord Himself, we have peace wherever we are or wherever we go and in whatever we do. Peace with God will enable us to be at peace with ourselves and others. This is the peace, Jesus said, that the world cannot give or take away. Our sense of purpose, power and direction is hinged on our paying careful attention to the word of the Lord. Peace or the Shalom of Jesus is a composite of all the blessings and promises of scripture. It is not the mere absence of conflict, stress or strife. It is the ultimate good. It is heaven’s currency that we amass here on earth. We can give it away or pass it on like a baton to others through our communications and our prayers.

Under the Old Covenant, people had to adhere or obey a whole host of commandments and rules which have been simplified, subsumed and reduced under the new covenant to just two commandments – love God totally and love others like we love ourselves. These two commandments should be our daily diet, our meditation day and night and we should do our best to adhere, practice, obey it wholeheartedly. The Word then promises that we will be the head, always at the TOP, never sidelined or sidetracked.