It's Music Monday again!
This weekend, God really broke my heart over the flippant way I view my sin. I tend to look at it as a normal part of life, something that is inevitably going to happen, and therefore, not something to cause me to freak out. Our pastor preached Lamentations 3 yesterday. In Lamentations 3 are the verses which inspired the hymn, "Great is Thy Faithfulness". It's a chapter where the prophet Jeremiah is mourning the destruction of his people, Israel. He says that God has broken his teeth with gravel and covered him with ashes (v. 16). But then he remembers the covenant promise that God made with Israel so many years before. He promised that they would be His chosen people, and out of them would come Messiah, who would save His people from their sins. And even though Israel continually failed to hold up their end of the covenant, God was faithful to keep His promise.
What I've never realized before is that God made a blood covenant with me, when He called me to accept the sacrifice of His son and to become His daughter. His covenant with me promises that He will cover all my sins with the blood that Jesus spilled on the cross, that He will claim me as His own, that I will not die, but will have everlasting life. My covenant with Him says that "it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal 2:20). I no longer have to right to live in my own will. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. My covenant promise is that I will live for Him and the way He wills. I must conform my will to His.
And even though I fail miserably at holding up my end of the covenant, God is faithful. He does not nullify the covenant with me when I fail, just as He didn't abandon Israel. He is faithful.
I have entered into a blood covenant with the Almighty God of all. And I am a fool to think that violating the terms of that covenant is something to be taken lightly. When Israel violated the covenant relationship, God responded with warnings, and when those went unheeded, He sent other kingdoms to destroy His chosen people. I have spent too long treating my sins as mundane and unavoidable. I have sought to execute my own will instead of seeking His. And now, I am filled with wonder and gratefulness that He is infinitely more faithful than I.
Consider the blood of Christ today, and what it means to you. How seriously are you taking the covenant that God made with you when He called you as His own?
My set list for tonight is as follows:
- Glorious One (Steve Fee)
- Mighty to Save (Hillsong)
- How He Loves (David Crowder)
- Glorious Day (Casting Crowns)
- How Deep the Father's Love for Us (Stuart Townend)
I hope you have a blessed week.
2 comments:
Allison, Thank you for this wonderful testimony. I think we all go through periods of time when we forget that we are "washed in the blood". Thankfully, the Lord draws us to Himself and reminds us of the covenant.
Allison, you are such a special young woman. your grandpa and I love you and cherish you being our granddaughter. We are truly blessed, Gma
Beautiful, beautiful post. I am so thankful for the work God is doing in your heart and in your life. He is so good to us.
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