Business used to be transacted with a promise and a handshake, or so I'm told. In my lifetime I've known nothing other than binding written contracts, replete with undecipherable legalese. I recall a realtor once suggesting, at a  house closing, that each page of the ream of documents to be signed probably represented a lawsuit. 

Whether a verbal or written agreement, a contract is designed to be binding. It is a sacred trust and promise, not always easy to live by. Marriage is the ultimate contract, or covenant. Inherent to the "for-better-or-worse" vow is the recognition that the promise will not always be easy to keep.

God is the God of contract, or covenant. From His perspective, it is at least as binding as marriage or a mortgage agreement. Unlike those who enter contracts or covenants with a view of minimum-standard loopholes or escape clauses, God views it as absolutely, eternally binding. Consider:

"But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned to them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them or cast them from His presence until now." (2 Kings 13.23)

Destroying, or disinheriting, a disobedient people would have been the easiest thing of all. But, God never loses sight of His original covenant with Abraham in dealing with his descendants. It reminds me of His dealings with us through His Son, Jesus the Christ: "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself." (2 Timothy 2.13). From His perspective, the covenant is binding and irrevocable.

We live in an age of rampant foreclosures (although numbers are declining). Financially-strapped homeowners have become seriously delinquent with monthly payments, and financial institutions have proceeded with the provisions of the contract. Similarly, God has a covenant with His people in which He is comparable to the lending institution. When we fail to uphold our part of the contract, He has every right to take action against us. But, He holds out a "return clause" in which we can return and resume, without penalty, if we return in humility and sincerity. 

I've failed Him far more times than I can ever count. Every day is an adventure into some form of unfaithfulness. But, He continues to hold out His "return clause" to me. It's far more humbling than I can begin to describe, and deeply appealing. I want a fresh start - today; right now.

If you are a blood-bought believer, and Abraham's descendant (Galatians 3.29), this moment can be a repent-and-return moment. Seek out your Father, the God of covenant, and begin afresh. He's waiting to resume His life-giving covenant if we've strayed from it. Repent, and return.

Steve
©Steve Taylor, 2012