"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (3:1)

For Reading and Meditation:     1 John 2:28-3:11

Peacemaking is a positive attitude that produces good spiritual and mental health, and the one who has this attitude, according to Jesus, is to be envied and congratulated. The promise of the seventh Beatitude is that peacemakers "will be called sons of God". Why called? Because they are sons of God. This is their lot in life. Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones put it like this: "The meaning of being called the sons of God is that the peacemaker is a child of God and that he is like his Father." If I were to pick out the one verse that most perfectly expresses the meaning of the Christian gospel, it would be this: "in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself ' and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19, RSV). Ever since man sinned, God has been engaged in the positive business of an outgoing love - seeking to reconcile those who did not want to be reconciled. God wants us to do what He does - He commits to us the same task of reconciliation. Those who are inwardly reconciled to God and seek to reconcile others to Him and to each other are the healthiest and the happiest people on earth. In two outstanding passages in the Bible, we are called sons of the Father - and for the same reason: Matthew 5:9 and Matthew 5:45. What do we conclude from this? We are most like God when we are bringing people together in reconciliation. And those who try to reconcile others are doing the work of heaven - for it is heaven's work to reconcile us.

O God my Father, I pray that You will help me become more and more like You. You are a Father who reconciles - make me into Your own divine image. Help me to breathe "peace" upon all I meet. For Your own dear Name's sake. Amen.