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As we move through the week of Christmas, we are focusing on Jesus, the One Isaiah described as the “Prince of Peace.” 

Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Blaise Pascal was a seventeenth-century French mathematician. He invented a calculator that was amazingly advanced for its time. Today Pascal is credited as providing the foundation for the modern-day computer. But his influence did not stop with the field of mathematics. He was a philosopher and theologian. Speaking to man’s inner spiritual cravings, Pascal wrote this in his book, Pensées:

What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words, by God himself. (p. 45)

Maybe today you are seeking in vain to fill this “infinite abyss” in your heart. You have tried all that the world has to offer but to no avail. Let me introduce you to the One who can restore true joy, the One who can fill the spiritual hole in your heart. His name is Jesus. He is the Prince of Peace. You can have peace with God through Jesus. He is what you have been looking for. 

Are you longing for true peace? Pray this prayer with me. 

Father, I can relate to the craving for true happiness that Pascal describes. I can also relate to my futile effort to fill the void with all the things around me. I conclude with Pascal that only you can fill the “infinite abyss” in my heart. Today I trust in Jesus alone as the One who can bring me into a relationship with you through his death on the cross for my sins and his resurrection that gives me life. Right now, I trust in Jesus. Amen.