“3 And
the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and
his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to
perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the
people stood to the covenant.” – 2 Kings 23:3
If one seeks to have a
personal relationship with Jesus Christ there must first be a covenant
made. This is not to say an agreement or barter. Rather a sincere
vow; “Lord I am going to do your will, follow after your ways, obey your
commandments.” The covenant marks the complete yielding of your strength,
the renouncing of your ways, and the determination to conform to his. It
is the beginning of a union between God and yourself; and the destruction of
sin in your life.
The scripture tells us that God stands all the day long with
his hands outstretched. Jesus said himself “come unto me…..”(Mat 11:28)
Furthermore, the Bible itself ends with a glorious invitation “and the Spirit
and the bride say come.”(Rev 22:17) With these scriptures in mind we can
certainly deduce that Jesus Christ is always ready and waiting to inhabit the
repentant human heart, any human heart, no matter how: lost, vile, wretched, or
sin stained; when that person pleas for grace and forgiveness that person is
forgive. Jesus is standing in the fullness of himself, with his hand
outstretched ready to pull the sin sick soul out of the horrible pit that it is
dwelling in.
As an illustration of what I am trying to say, I offer the following.
A common form of entertainment down here in South Georgia is a practice known
as “muddin” or “mud-dogin.” Basically, a group of people design their
vehicles, typically trucks or jeeps, to withstand the wettest and muddiest
terrain. They then test their design by driving in the wettest and
muddiest terrain they can find. Inevitably someone gets stuck in the
mud. Despite their precautions, which include the size of their engine,
tires, and “lift”; once their stuck, they remain stuck. They will then
proceed to rev that engine and rev that engine; cramming the gas pedal to the
floor board trying to drive that truck out of the mud, but when all the
commotion is over with, they only find themselves deeper than they were to
start with. The only thing that can save them from their state is another
vehicle; a buddy, who has to come, and pull them out of the mud. The covenant with Christ is not a business
arrangement or a “let’s make a deal” scenario, because his statues are
everlasting and his laws unbending. It is not a matter of what do I have
to offer, and what does Christ have to offer, let’s sit down and enter into a
negotiation; it’s not about negotiation, it’s about abandonment. The
saving hand of Christ will only find those who totally abandon all that they
are, and wholly resign to follow all that Christ is. It will find only
those who say “Lord, not my will but thine be done.” (Luke 22: 42)
Jesus Christ died for you. He died so that we might
have fellowship with him. We, everyone, have a choice, we can live this
life according to what suits us: “eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.”
That is the slogan of the sinner. We can spend this life equipping
ourselves with every possible device to combat the dirty trappings of sin, and
yet we will find ourselves only sinking deeper and deeper into the mud.
Or you can choose to make a covenant before the Lord; vow to follow Christ, and
he will save, he will guide, he will “keep you in the way.” You must
recognize your state of hopelessness before you can realize the way of
escape. Recognize that you need a savior; trying to plod along in sin, in
this life, is like being stuck in the mud. Reach out for the saving hand
of Christ and wholly resign yourself to follow
him.
