Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Jesus: The Faithful Covenantal Partner
Shawn Abraham

St. Peters MTC Teaneck, NJ
8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. 9 He said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
 
In order to understand how absolutely amazing Jesus is, one must first understand covenants, specifically, the four covenants that God made with the Israelites. Covenants are two-way agreements made between people. In the case of God and the Israelites, God makes promises with His chosen people, and in return, He expects man to be faithful and committed to Him. The purpose of all of this is that by using this covenantal relationship, God might restore His relationship with all of mankind.
In the book of Exodus, God makes His third covenant with His chosen people, and in this case, with Moses. God promises to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land and that He would do a mighty work in these people, and in return, God expects the Israelites to follow the commands that He gives Moses. And we all know how long the Israelites were able to keep up their end of the bargain. Moses even admits to God that the Israelites are a sinful, stiff-necked people.
So we all know that the Israelites did a terrible job at being a faithful covenant partner with God, and so we would think that God’s attempt at restoring a relationship with mankind failed. But this is where Jesus comes in. What makes Jesus special is that He is fully God, and fully man. So Jesus was able to follow all of God’s commands, and be the faithful covenant partner on our behalf.
We have all messed up at some point during our lives, and many of us may have felt that we don’t deserve to be loved the way God loves us. But what makes God so amazing is that He made himself human and lived a sinless life so that whoever believes in Him can have eternal life.  We are  loved immensely by a God who pursues us jealously each and every day regardless of our past. So let us keep our covenantal relationship with God by leading a life that is pleasing to Him. 

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, thank You for being the faithful covenant partner on our behalf, and thank you for pursuing us even when we don’t deserve to experience Your love. Please give us the strength to be the lamp on the lampstand, and show Your love to everyone we encounter. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also". Luke 12:34

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