Verse 2 tells us "Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."
Grace: favor or goodwill, mercy or pardon. Peace: freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, an obsession, etc.; tranquillity. Good things, yes?
These are granted to us in abundance through the knowledge of Him.
Now, the pardon (grace) of our sins is ours at first acceptance of Christ and the favor He has given us through His blood. But peace is another story. You can't just accept Christ, keep doing life the way you were before, and expect things to be all honky dory. It doesn't work that way.
This Christian life stuff takes work. It takes time and it takes a knowledge of Him to fully reap all the benefits. I don't know about you, but peace sounds awful good to me. Here, Paul tells me I can get it abundantly by knowing God.
Sure, I know Him. I was raised in the church and have been faithfully following Him for 13 years now on my own. The kind of peace Paul is talking about comes from knowing God on a truly personal level. Really knowing Him. Resting in His presence. Giving Him full and complete control of whatever may come your way.
Does this kind of peace mean that my kids won't fight or disobey, or that hard things will never happen to me? Heavens, no. It just means that through knowing Him, when these things happen I can find peace in knowing that He is in control, knowing that if I seek His will for my life through thick and thin, I will be able to peacefully come to the other side a stronger person.
Knowing Him comes from these hard times. It comes from having no where else to turn and having no other option but to give it up to Him. It comes from spending time with Him. In prayer. In His Word. In fellowship with others who know Him. It is a lifestyle.
So, go find your grace and peace in abundance. He is just waiting to give it to you.
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