Thomas Shepard (1605-1649) was raised in a godly Puritan home, but while he was attending Cambridge University he fell into a life of sin. One Sunday morning, when he awoke from a drunken stupor, a heavy weight of sadness over the enormity of his guilt crushed him to the point that he left his former way of life.

For the next 9 months, the fear of God's wrath almost drove him to "run my head against walls . . . and kill myself." But while listening to a sermon on 1 Corinthians 1:30, he suddenly realized that Christ was everything he needed—that Jesus had lived the perfect life he couldn't live, had paid for his sins on the cross, and was now his Advocate in heaven.

Commenting on John 1:12, "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God," Shepard wrote, "The Lord gave me a heart to receive Christ with a naked hand, . . . and so the Lord gave me peace."

If you want the kind of peace that only God can give, ask Him to give you a deep awareness of your own sinfulness. Then reflect on the wonder of the grace by which He made Jesus Christ everything you need. Finally, either renew the commitment you have already made to the Lord, or for the first time receive Jesus as your Savior.  — Herbert Vander Lugt