The Price of Peace
Proverbs 17:1 It is better to have nothing but a dry piece of bread to eat in peace than a whole house full of food with everyone arguing.
Most of us consider wealth to be a good thing. Who doesn’t want to have just a bit more money? But wealth has an ugly underside to it. Sometimes the wealthier we become, the more peace seems to elude us.
A recent survey revealed that on average, Australians believed that you’d need to earn $327,000 a year to “feel rich”. Outrageous! That’s nearly seven times the median wage. What a massive gap between what we consider wealth to be and the reality that most people are living – a gap that reflects, I guess, the aspirations of ordinary people.
Now, incomes obviously vary greatly from country to country. But I’d be surprised if, in most places, there wasn’t a similar gap between aspirations and reality. And so, many people set about working long hours, commuting long distances, to earn more and more money.
And whilst there’s nothing wrong with working hard to provide for your family, there is a cost to it all. Families are failing, lives are being torn apart. Even if the toll isn’t that high, there’s real tension at home, as families come under the pressure of earning more money.
Proverbs 17:1 It is better to have nothing but a dry piece of bread to eat in peace than a whole house full of food with everyone arguing.
Ain’t that the truth? There is such great value in a peaceful home – but there’s a price to that peace. The question is, what do we value more? Peace in our lives? Or the trinkets that we can buy with the extra income we might earn by putting ourselves under incredible pressure?
Pay the price. Choose peace. It’s better than a whole house full of food with everyone arguing.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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