Thankful, Day Eighty-Two

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!

Serve the LORD with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

Know that the LORD, He is God;

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;

We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

For the LORD is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

And His truth endures to all generations.

Psalm 100, NKJV

Covenant is a concept lost on our Western culture, but in the ancient Middle East, it was a common practice of powerful significance. When two men encountered each other and found friendship, it often led to covenant. The two would sit down together and write up an agreement, a treaty if you will, concerning the responsibilities of this relationship that was more than simple friendship. They would sacrifice an animal (or animals), divide the carcasses, and then walk around each other in a figure-eight through the blood. They would exchange coats to signify the sharing of all things; what's mine is yours, and what's yours is min. They would trade swords in a mutual defense pact; as I heard one preacher put it, it basically said, "If someone stabs you in the back, you won't have to turn around to see if it's me." They took each others belts to indicate strength and help offered to the other in times of need. Finally, they would put a knife blade to their own palms, bind their hands together in a commingling of blood, and take each other's names as part of their own. They followed that with a shared feast, and covenant was done. It was the gravest of sins against your new partner to break covenant.

This what God did with Abram in the Bible. Only when God set it up, he understood the weaknesses inherent in humanity. He knew full well that Abram could offer Him nothing that He needed, and in all likelihood would at times fail in holding up his end of the bargain. So God did something unique; He decided that He Himself would uphold both ends of the covenant. It wouldn't be dependent on what Abram could say or do or give; it would all have to do with the faithfulness of God. So he thumped Abram in the head to keep him out of the blood, and while Abram slept, God appeared as a smoking furnace and a burning torch, passed both ways between the sacrifices, and uttered His name--the covenant name of YHWH--as the highest oath He could take. Then He changed the names of Abram and his wife Sarai. Some have pointed out that the Bible calls Him YHWH or Lord up to this point in Genesis, but He gave one H to make Abraham, one H to make Sarah, and afterward was known as the God of Abraham (and later Isaac and Jacob, because the covenant extended to them and their descendants forever).

To this day, God has never let down His end of the covenant with Abraham and Abraham's children. There is still an Israeli people, in spite of being persecuted, enslaved, scattered, and without a homeland for 2000 years. And they still follow the covenants of God made with their ancestors; they still practice covenant with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They still follow the Law of Moses, another covenant God made with their people. And they still expect God to honor His covenant, which He always has. And He always will.

But God has also made a new covenant that is not exclusive to the physical descendants of Abraham. He has extended it to include the spiritual descendants of Abraham, those who would live their lives in faith toward God as Abraham did. Like Abraham, when we believe God, it is accounted to us for righteousness. And the covenant was sealed through the death of Jesus Christ, who became our personal covenant keeper just as God became Abraham's. Christ has given us His name, His provision, His protection, His power...everything we need is provided in covenant with Him.

I'm thankful to be in covenant with Christ today.

I'm thankful for His provision, His protection, His power that is at work within me doing immeasurably more than all I ask or think.

I'm thankful for the Name that is above every name, the Name by which I have been saved, and the Name upon which I can call anytime I want and know that He will answer me, and that I will in no way be put to shame.

I'm thankful for a covenant-keeping God, who is always faithful, always merciful, and always good. Even when I am faithless, He remains faithful to me, for He cannot deny Himself.

Thank you God, for Your covenant with me.