12 Aug 2016
We have lots of names for it: confidant, best friend, friends
for life, soul mate, companion, my other half.
When it comes to the idea of a “covenant,” we pretty much know what it
means, and how it looks and feels. And
it looks a lot like having a: confidant, or best friend, or soul mate, and so
on.
And so, when God talks about being in a covenant with us, we
already know what basically means. It
means that God is with us for the long-haul; he’s with us in good times and in
bad. It means God sees his relationship
with us as beneficial to him; and he’s willing to hold up his end of the
bargain. Of course, a covenant is a
two-way thing.
In some ways, our relationship with God can feel like an
arranged marriage: God chose us, but did we choose God? Really, when was the last time any of us said
to ourselves: “I choose to be in a covenant with almighty God?” Maybe it was this morning; maybe never—I don’t
know. But that’s a critical question for
each of us to consider.
And that’s because consent is at the heart of it all. God has consented to be our partner through
life and death. And we know that because
the blood of Jesus poured out on the Cross is “the Blood of the new and eternal
covenant.” God consented to love us, and
he signed on the dotted line with his Blood.
That was God’s free choice.
And we have the same choice.
Free consent is at the heart of any covenant. It’s at the heart of friendship and marriage;
it’s the basis of consecrated religious life and the ordained life. And we ratify our consent—we seal our
commitment to God—every time we say “Amen” to the Body and Blood of
Christ. Every time we do what’s right
simply because it’s the right thing to do; every time we act in faith or hope
or charity, we seal our covenant with God.
We pour out our blood, our sweat, our lives in imitation of
Christ, who did the same (and more) as a sign of his desire for us. And we do that because that’s how we consent
to a covenant—to any kind of covenant: we put our heart and soul into it, and
we do it because we choose to. That’s the
kind of covenant God asks us to be in with him—not a half-hearted “ok,” but a
full-bodied “Yes.”
And so, every day, again and again, we have the chance to say
“Yes” to God. Every day we have the
chance to say “Amen,” and to live our lives as one big “Yes” to God’s ways of
faith, hope, and love. Every day the
covenant with God is renewed—if we choose it to be renewed. It’s a new day today. Will you say “Amen” to God—of your own free
will?
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