ESOCS Devotional 5 November 2022
TEXT: JEREMIAH 31:31-34
MEMORY VERSE: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah … not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.” Jeremiah 31:31-32
0 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. 12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted lace ”
The new covenant God made with believers is the covenant in the Blood of Jesus. During the last supper that our Lord had with His disciples in which He established the Holy Communion, He told believers, “For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:28). This covenant is superior to the old one. Therefore, we should not treat it casually. The generation of the Israelites that were delivered from Egypt did not respect the covenant God made with them in the wilderness; and God was not happy with them. This attitude resulted in series of problems in their individual and collective lives as a nation. There were pestilence of all kinds; sicknesses and diseases that came on them like a plaque or epidemic; they were led into captivity by enemy nation; the troubles were divers and too many.
A covenant is an agreement between two or more people. In principle, in the secular world it is expected that all parties should respect and abide by the tenets of the agreement. Anyone who does anything that is contrary to what is written is said to have defaulted and would face the consequences. So it is in spiritual matters as it concerns the Almighty God. He has made a covenant with us in the Blood of Jesus. In that covenant, He fulfilled His own part of the agreement; that is, He shed the Blood of His dear Son Jesus Christ the Lord for the forgiveness of our sins. Furthermore, He sanctified us by the Holy Ghost and gave us His word in the Holy Scriptures to guide us daily, as He speaks to us through them, and the Holy Spirit. Our part in the covenant or agreement is simply to obey Him and live our lives according what is written in the Holy Scriptures. We are to respect them and conduct ourselves within the framework of the word of God.
When God spoke to Jeremiah about what the Israelites did with His covenant, His comment was: “… My covenant which they [Israelites] broke.” Let us not behave like them. Let us behave differently. This was a bad testimony God had about them. Let His testimony about us be like that of Abraham: “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” Abraham lived his live in a manner that God could trust him. Can God trust you to keep His covenant? Can God be confident that you would live the rest of your life in holiness and righteousness? These questions and many more like them are what we should answer to ourselves in all honesty.
CHALLENGES
- What does the Blood covenant mean to you?
- Are you keeping your own part of the agreement in the covenant?
PRAYERS
- Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you deeper insights into the word of God.
- Pray for the Spirit of grace to be given to you.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
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ESOCS Devotional 5 November 2022
