04/24/2019
Do you remember the moment when you made your commitment to God, and to follow Jesus Christ? How long ago was that, and have you done so since then? Perhaps you have never made that pledge... maybe you just started worshiping Him without a promise, or you have recently decided that this is something you should do. Establishing an agreement with Jesus is important because it commits us to Him, and a relationship... just as the wedding covenant commits us to marriage... this promise too is a Covenant we establish.
“"Because of all this we make a firm covenant in writing; on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.”
Nehemiah 9:38 ESV
God wishes to make covenant with us. Jesus wants us to commit ourselves firmly to Him. This becomes our promise to one another, and defines our relationship. In so doing we are laying out what we will do, and God is telling us what he expects, and will do. In Isaiah God says if you come to me, I will love you like I loved David, and He calls this covenant. God gives love, man gives worship... listen...
“Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.”
Isaiah 55:3 ESV
As men we do the same thing with one another by giving our word, a handshake, signing written documents, erecting monuments, or detailing our expectations and commitment in other such ways. Commitment is vital to promise, and without it there can be no promise... only a passing fancy. What good would the Bible be without words like promise, commitment, and covenant? Would serving a god who lorded over us by whim and whatever struck him at the moment bring us the same feeling of peace, rest, and love that we feel in the relationship we have with our God, and Jesus Christ? No! So we hear what God expects of us....
“And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”
Matthew 22:37-38 ESV
And in each case He tells us what He will will do for us. Over and over again we hear the contracts of faith being agreed upon, from the Old Testament Times...
“if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV
To the New Testament days...
“And Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Mark 11:22-24 ESV
So we have established the construction and importance of covenant, and why we enter into them, but have you ever renewed one, and why did you do so?
People who have been married for a long time, or have been through a particularly rough time in their marriages occasionally renew their vows to one another. They don’t do this because the original covenant no longer exists, but to reaffirm and emphasize the importance of the original agreement. Sometimes it is a celebration of having lived successfully by this agreement, and sometimes it emphasizes the joy we feel, while at other times it is a promise of renewed commitment after having broken or failed at that original covenant in some way... it is a renewal which serves to reinstitute faith and commitment in what was originally agreed upon. We need to reaffirm our covenants with God for the same reasons. Listen to this flowing and loving reaffirmation from Psalm 63...
“Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”
Psalms 63:3-8 ESV
So when was the first time you made covenant with God by making the promise to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”, and when was the last time you reaffirmed that promise? Do you do it each day in prayer and praise as it brings your faith to new levels, or have you let your relationship sag into a state of boredom and inactivity by which you go about not sinning, but not loving as well? Then again... have you allowed sin to break your covenant, and not know how to get over it?
The Bible tells of many occurrences where man failed, and covenant was reestablished. The greatest example is the failure of Adam and Eve, and the most wonderful reestablishment is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ; sin was introduced, and sin relieved.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9 ESV
I don’t care what you have done, or where you are in your life... God, and Jesus, are ready to remedy the situation by entering into a covenant of grace and love with you... or by reestablishing the one you have broken through the same grace by which it was originally established. This is the power and promise of love... unfailing love... indestructible love... ever erupting love.
“"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
John 3:16-17 ESV
Make your covenant today, reaffirm your covenant today, renter your covenant today, revitalize your covenant today, or perhaps even remedy your covenant today... whatever state you find your faith in, God wants to take you higher, and to make you more faithful, righteous, and holy... if you will only shake His hand in agreement and commitment.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the indestructible love you have for me, and for your Son Jesus Christ that you sent because of that love, to redeem me. I reestablish my covenant with you today Holy Father, as I promise to love you with all of my heart, soul, and mind, and to abide by the other promises and covenants that we have made with one another through your Word. Help me Merciful Father to be true to my commitments to you, and to not falter in any way as I serve and love you today. If however, I should miss the mark in any way open my eyes to my failure, and lead me back to you... allowing me to reestablish the faith you have in me, and my desire to be true to my word. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God, whose love and patience knows no bounds, and in whom I place my trust. Praised be your name for the ever erupting nature of your love that overwhelms me day and night, and will cover me throughout eternity. All glory is yours Father, and your grace the contract and covenant of eternal love we sign together in the blood of Christ.
“Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Matthew 26:26-28 ESV
Rich Forbes