Tuesday February 7, 2023

Today is Tuesday, February 7 and we are studying what the Bible says about covenant.

Come, abide with me, Lord Jesus. I pause to savor your loving presence and still the restless wanderings of my soul. Open the scriptures to me, speak into my life and teach me the meaning of covenant.

Pause and Pray

Holy Lord God, hear my prayer. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are mine, and I am yours. So be it. Amen. (The Wesleyan Covenant Prayer, part 2)

As a new day dawns, I seek the Lord my God and turn to him with the words of Psalm 40.

May all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The Lord is great!” But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay. Psalm 40:16-17

Pause and Pray

God is a God of covenants. God is a covenant making and covenant keeping God. The entire Biblical witness is about covenant. The Old Testament contains many covenants made between humanity and God – the covenant made by God in the Garden of Eden followed by covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses and David. Throughout the Biblical narrative, God continually makes and keeps his promises. Humanity, on the other hand, continually turns away, sins against God and breaks the covenant. Jeremiah prophecies that a new covenant will be made with God’s people, this new covenant will not be like the covenants before.

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Jeremiah 31:31-33

This prophecy is unique in all the Old Testament. It makes clear what restoration looks like for the future. There will be an inner power and motivation towards obedience written on the very hearts of God’s people instead of on tablets of stone. The law is internalized. People will know God in a personal, intimate way. This new covenant is made possible through the blood of Jesus, blood shed through his suffering and death on the cross. This new covenant is for me. It is my promise. It is my invitation to life – abundant and eternal. Through the power of the Holy Spirit I am able to make and keep all of my covenants – with God, my spouse, my family and my church.

Ask: Over the course of my life, how have I kept covenant with God and others? Over the course of my life, how have I broken covenant with God and others?

Pause and Pray

Blessed Lord, thank you for the new covenant made for me through your Son Jesus Christ. Forgive me for the times I have broken my covenant and disappointed you and others. You have loved me with a patient, steadfast, adoring love. Yet I have turned away again and again. Put your law in my mind and write it on my heart. I am yours. I read the words from Jeremiah again and listen for the message you have for me.

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Jeremiah 31:31-33

Ask: What image, word or phrase stands out to me when I slowly read this passage? What is God trying to say to me through these words of scripture?

Pause and Pray

One of the best ways I can begin each day is to say, “Speak to me, Lord.” I invite God to speak to my heart through the words of holy scripture. I want to hear God and endeavor to understand him. I consider my faithfulness in covenants and how God might be affirming and encouraging me or warning me and calling me to account. I reflect on the condition of my heart, mind and soul and how the teachings of the Bible are remembered or forgotten. What can I do to more faithfully follow God?

Pause and Pray

Come, Holy Spirit, shine your spotlight on the recesses of my heart and mind. Reveal the places where God’s good Word has been engraved and preserved. Also reveal the places where your truth has been replaced by falsehood and lies. Expose your holiness and instill in me an honest desire to obey you completely from the depths of my soul. Amen.

Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant. Hebrews 7:22b

I leave this time of prayer reminded of the New Covenant made through Jesus Christ. I go to share God’s love with everyone I meet.

Amen