Christmas: God's Sacred Covenant

Everyone enjoys a great love story. Love stories are drama exemplified. The lover pursues and wins the loved one. Love stories touch intimate parts of our beings like nothing else.  We come away with feelings of triumph and joy. It is thrilling. An extraordinary love story in Scripture is that of Jesus and Jerusalem. It is a small picture of the greater drama through the ages. Jerusalem is very special to the heart of God. When Jesus weeps over her - it is with a deep unyielding kind of longing and agony. His grief is about his inability to gather her close, to pour His gifts into her nurturing and protecting her. Anyone who has experienced this particular kind of loss understands the depth of pain expressed by the Lord. He had good reason to grieve over her. She was not respecting the love relationship that He was providing for her. 

An example of the heart of God towards His children (Israel…Jerusalem) is found in Ezekiel 16. Here we see how the Lord tenderly describes the love he has had and continues to have towards Jerusalem. He came to her upon her birth. Seeing she had been uncared for and abandoned. The Lord spoke words of life to her. He watched her grow and mature becoming ready to receive the love of a bridegroom. When it was time for love - the passage states that He covered her with the corner of His garment, made a covenant with her and she became His.  The Lord cleans her up, dresses her, and bestows on her all he beauty that is a part of who He is. The sad part is what follows: His loved one then turns and prostitutes herself treating the Lords gift of Himself shamefully.

How similar the Lord is with us. He is present at our birth. He is aware of the ways in which we are taken care of, harmed and abandoned. He watches our growth waiting for the time in which we are ready for love. At precisely the right moment, He comes. Being aware of our vulnerability, His love is tenderly revealed. We accept Him.  We are cleansed and covered in the nakedness of our need. The Lord reveals His covenant promises to us and we become His. From that moment on He dresses us, perfecting the beauty within to match the beauty in Him.   It is the love story of the ages. It is why He came.

 As this Christmas season comes and goes, I pray you will take time to reflect on these thoughts. Make every effort to respond to the gift of God with great reverence and joy.

To not do so, is to treat this relationship, this love story, with disrespect and will grieve the heart of God.  The Lord has pursued, nurtured, and waited for you to turn toward Him. He has made a covenant with you. You became His. His desire is towards you. Worship Him, for He is Your King.

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Wisdom