Joel 3

Verse 10: Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears.

This text reminded of Isaiah 2:4: They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

There will come a day when war will never again be necessary, a day when weapons will not be needed; it is a day that all the world should look forward to, and all the world should work for. But it's never going to come while humans are still in charge, it's just part of who we are... Conflict is in our DNA.

There are times when war is necessary. When another nation attacks you or declares war on you, you must defend yourself. When a dictator decides that a certain type of person should be wiped off the face of the earth or decides to take someone else's land to puff up their ego,  then they need to be stopped. At times, war is necessary and so is a fighting force that is always ready to defend and protect.

But war is ugly. It is a terrible thing. Most often, the lives lost in battle are not the dictators and decision makers, they are the lives of young people just doing what they are told. If I was a 20 year-old living in Germany or Japan in 1940, what choices would I have?

So we wait for God's kingdom to become a reality here on earth, as it is in heaven. We wait for the day when no more heroes have to die in battle and leave a family at home. We wait for Jesus.

But Jesus is already here. The kingdom is already here. When we live our lives the way God created us to live, when we love one another and pray for enemies, then the kingdom shows up and gets bigger.

Scientists say the universe is always expanding, it keeps getting bigger. So is God's kingdom, and it will continue to grow until love and grace take over everything. I'm ready for that day. I'm ready for new DNA.