Thoughts for the Day

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.’ Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.’

God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Have you ever made a covenant, that is an agreement made between equals where at least one of the parties must act? When we marry we agree to love and cherish the other person; when we buy a property, one person agrees to sell and the other to buy the house or flat; when we are baptised we (or our parents) agree to become God's child and He agrees to become our Heavenly Father. That is the nature of a covenant - there are usually obligations on both side.

In our reading from Genesis we see the most amazing covenant being made between Abram and God, where God chooses to make an agreement with a human being and to treat him as an equal. As a sign of this agreement he gives Abram a new name, that of Abraham, just as when we are baptised we are given a name. He agrees to follow God's commands and 'be blameless', while God in return will ensure that Abraham will be the father of a nation (despite his age) and He will give him and his offspring a land of their own.

Abraham's descendants were to break this covenant again and again, and in the end it required a new covenant through Jesus. We became inheritors of that amazing covenant when we were baptised, when God entered a contract with us to be our God and we agreed to be His people and obey His commands to love Him and each other.

Heavenly Father,
we thank You that You made us Your children,
through the covenant made at our baptism.
May we honour this agreement each day,
loving You and each other
and never forget Your generosity
in welcoming us as Your people.
Amen.