So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. —Judges 6:24 NIV

One of God’s names in the Bible is Yahweh-Shalom, which means “the Lord is Peace.” The Hebrew word for peace, shalom, means wholeness in all of life, completeness, welfare, safety. God is our source of all of these blessings.

Philosopher Cornelius Plantinga explains shalom like this: “In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight—a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Savior opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights.”

That’s what we long for in our journey toward physical and spiritual health: flourishing, wholeness, and delight. We long to have our needs satisfied and our gifts well employed. We can picture the doors flung open and our Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) welcoming us into a place that is safe and rejuvenating.

Food for Thought: The Lord truly is our source of flourishing, wholeness, and delight. As we draw near to the Prince of Peace, he welcomes us into a place of completeness

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