The Necessary Covenant

“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.