“Tomorrow morning,” the surgeon began, “I’ll open up your heart…”

“You’ll find Jesus there,” the boy interrupted.

The surgeon looked up, annoyed, “I’ll cut your heart open,” he continued, “to see how much damage has been done.”

“But when you open up my heart, you’ll find Jesus in there,” said the boy.

The surgeon looked to the parents, who sate quietly. 

“When I see how much damage has been done, I’ll sew your heart and chest back up, and I’ll plan what to do next.”

“But you’ll find Jesus in my heart. The Bible says he lives there. The hymns all says he lives there. You’ll find him in my heart.”

The surgeon had had enough. “I’ll tell you what I’ll find in your heart. I’ll find damaged muscle, low blood supply, and weakened vessels. And I’ll find out if I can make you well.”

“You’ll find Jesus there too. He lives there.”

The surgeon left. 

The surgeon sat in his office, recording his notes from the surgery, “…damaged aorta, damaged pulmonary vein, widespread muscle degeneration. No hope for transplant, no hope for cure. Therapy: painkillers and bed rest. Prognosis: here he paused, death within one year.”

He stopped the recorder, but there was more to be said. “Why?” he asked aloud. “Why did you do this? You put him here; you put him in this pain; and you cursed him to an early death. Why?”

The Lord answered and said, “The boy, my lamb, was not meant for your flock for long, for he is a part of my flock, and will forever be. Here, in my flock, he will feel no pain, and will be comforted as you cannot imagine. His parents will one day join him here, and they will know peace, and my flock will continue to grow.” 

The surgeon’s tears were hot, but his anger was hotter. “You created that boy and you created that heart. He’ll be dead in months! Why?”

The Lord answered, “The boy, my lamb, shall return to my flock, for he has done his duty: I did not put my lamb with your flock to lose him, but to retrieve another lost lamb.”

The surgeon wept…

The surgeon sat beside the boy’s bed; the boy’s parents sat across from him. The boy awoke and whispered, “Did you cut open my heart?”

“Yes,” said the surgeon. 

“What did you find?” asked the boy.

“I found Jesus there,” said the surgeon.

“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16).

So often, the problem I have with peace is that I really want peace with God, but I kinda like some of the stuff I struggle with. Let’s call it the problem of “AND.”

• Of course I want peace with God – AND I don’t want to change my ways
• I want peace with God – AND there are some sin things I kinda enjoy relishing in that I don’t want to give up
• I want peace with God – AND I don’t want to work at it

Basically, I want peace with God AND I want to stay the way I am.

That’s the problem. I am the problem. You see, God is at war with sin and what it does in God’s creation. There is no room for compromise with sin for God. Sin is serious enough that God would die on the cross and descend into hell to rid our world of sin.

As long as there is any inclination of peace with sin, there can be no peace with God.

Charles Spurgeon wrote: Until you have humbled yourself before God and sought and found mercy, God is at war with you and you are at war with God. There can be no peace where there is no purity. God has no peace with sin, and never can.

You want peace? You want peace with God? Holiness matters.

“Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘If you will bow down and worship me’” (Matthew 4:8).

As soon as Jesus was baptized and set apart for his public ministry, the very first thing that happened was the temptation in the wilderness. There the devil tempted Jesus for three days with power, notoriety, control, fame.

We know that Jesus refuted and rejected these temptations.

Fast forward two thousand years. I can’t help but wonder if the modern day evangelical church is pursuing the very temptations Jesus rejected in the wilderness. The kingdom of God was never about earthly power, notoriety, fame, or control. It’s about the crazy love story of a God who so loved sinners that he could not imagine an eternity without them in it. So God made a way through his Son’s death and resurrection that whosoever should believe in him – red, white, black, yellow, democrat, republican, American, Chinese, Russian, Iranian, North Korean – WHOSOEVER should believe in Jesus will be saved.

Could it be that we’re pursuing peace in the wrong way?

I will finish this entry with a quote from the renowned philosopher and thinker, Jimmy Hendrix (you do know I’m joking about the philosopher and thinker thing right?)

Jimmy Hendrix said, “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”

I think Mr. Hendrix might be onto something.