IN this season of peace and goodwill towards mankind, you will not fail to have been unsettled by the bombing and killings in Gaza, and before it in Israel, plus engagements by Israel against Lebanon and talk of Russia saying the Ukraine war will last for five years, while North Korea and other nations are threatening war.

I have never understood this desire for bloodshed by national leaders convinced and determined to win extra land or regain land they once ruled over, and the extent to which they will go to try and achieve that.

I gather there are now over 300,000 Russian soldiers dead in terms of the war against Ukraine; that’s 300,000 households in Russia for which last Christmas and this one will have been anything but happy. Then the Ukraine army similarly has suffered very significant losses as they try to defend what has become an independent country.

What is this all about? Pictures of Gaza show it razed to the ground as areas of Ukraine have been. And what is to be gained by ruling over some additional ground which the rulers can’t take with them when they die…they just leave the horrors of bloodshed, early deaths and tears.

The world cries out for peace and if history tells us one thing it is that there have only been broken periods of peace across the world, going back historically, and even in our own country.

Clan warfare was there, there was the War of the Roses in England and many others; there were wars between the nations that make up the UK as well as wars across Europe and beyond.

Jesus came to bring peace and peace beyond our understanding. It is a personal peace that enters our hearts and minds, calms and comforts and heals broken hearts.

At this time of so much fighting, let Jesus bring peace to your heart and to those you love. And let us pray that in 2024 there will be wars stopping and not starting or continuing.