Longing for Covenant
Do you get moved when you see older couples out for a walk, holding hands, or sharing a burger at your local burger joint? I do. I am not a sappy, emotional person, but often, I tear up. I read somewhere that we have this reaction because God has set covenant in our hearts.
I was reading a book on relationships recently. The pastor who wrote the book went around doing a survey of couples who had been married for a long time. He asked them what had helped them stay together for such a long time. He was surprised by their answer because he was expecting them to say love. Their answer, almost unanimously, was commitment.
That got me to thinking about the gift of covenant. We seem to have these skewed ideas about why God gave us covenant. Sometimes we feel that He uses it to exact harsh punishment when we do things He disapproves of or perhaps keeps us out of hell. The beauty of covenant is that He signed it with His own blood. He didn't do that just to keep us out of hell or acting properly. Covenant is a gift. In thinking about how these couples stayed together, I think covenant was an extra measure of grace that went beyond redemption and promise. He knows that in our weak emotional state that there would be many days that it would seem like He was not enough for us. Perhaps, God gave us the tender gift of covenant so that we would attempt to keep close to Him even when we felt like we would rather seek anything else.
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