Claim The Covenant

Claim The Covenant Psalm 119:105 When my cousin was younger, he loved to go hunting. He would pack his bags with all the supplies needed to live off the land for a few days, and then he would travel all around so he could hunt different types of game. Wherever he went, he always went prepared. One year, he decided to go bear hunting, and I'll never forget his story. He left for a few days to hunt black bear in northern Wisconsin, and when he returned I asked him, "Did you get a bear?" He replied, "Yep, I was in my tree stand, and I got one!" "Congratulations!" I said. "Was it a long-distance shot or a tough shot?" My cousin laughed and said, "Nope. It was about 3 feet!" You see, what happened was my cousin, as skilled as he was, got a little lost trying to find his way in the woods at night. He had to stop, recollect, and ask himself, "Where am I going?" Well, after about 40 minutes, he figured out where he was going and made it to his tree stand. Relieved, he climbed up and sat down. Sunrise was now only a few minutes away, but his relief quickly turned into worry as my cousin heard and felt something at the base of the tree. And as the sun rose, it rose to a black bear climbing the tree in hopes of maybe having my cousin for breakfast! So what did my startled cousin do? He quickly stood up, leaned over his tree stand, aimed down, and shot his first bear! It goes without saying that to walk safely in the woods, especially at night, we need to bring a map and a light so we don't trip on roots, fall into a hole, get lost, or even get followed by a hungry bear. And in this life, there are times when you'll feel lost, have to journey through the unknown, or even have to walk through a dark forest of evil. When trials, tribulations, and temptations come following you. When the devil, that serpent of old (Revelation 12:9), comes prowling around like a lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8), just like that ol' black bear. Christians are kingdom citizens, but we still live in a world filled with sin, temptations, and distractions. Now, God's Word will provide light as you walk through life's dark woods. The Bible will prepare and equip you by illuminating the roots, rocks, and holes. God's Word will guide you in the direction you need to go, but what it won't do is stop the bears from following you. Instead, the Bible will illuminate them, so the enemy is visible in the light of God's Word. To stay on the right path, everyone needs God's Word as "a lamp for our feet, and a light for our path." Last week, the covenant you all made, or I hope you all made, is easy to read. It can be easy to write down, sign your name, and vow to do. But as the year progresses and the woods you must walk through become longer, we need to be prepared with the proper supplies to stay on the right path so you can remain faithful to God and the covenant you made with Him. So what are these needed supplies that will keep our covenant steps faithfully lighted along the path? Well, in 1780, John Wesley wrote a small book entitled, Directions For Renewing Our Covenant With God. In that book, Wesley unpacked 5 steps to prepare your hearts and minds for a covenant renewal and to help keep you supplied throughout the year. First is to Confide In God. Set apart some time, more than once, to be spent in secret before the Lord. Think about God's covenant, search your heart, and examine yourselves. If you find anything keeping you from maturing as a Christian, make haste to clear all of those matters. To confide in someone is to "put full trust in" that person. It involves a willingness to be vulnerable and truthful, even with your most guarded secrets. It's being completely open to God by acknowledging your sins and weaknesses that you may have tried to hide from others. Psalm 9:10 reminds us that "those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you." God's grace is abundant, and He will not forsake or abandon anyone who confides in Him. Confiding in God might not be easy, but it's a necessary first step. Second is to Compose Your Spirit, which examines your self-esteem. After you have engaged your hearts and confided and confessed your sins with God, it's tempting to say something like, "Well, at least I'm not as bad as so-and-so." Everyone tends to compare themselves with others in hopes of inflating their own self-esteem. When the temptation comes to think of yourself more highly than you should, it's time to Compose Your Spirit. One evening a husband and wife were on a date when they stumbled upon one of those coin-operated scales. The husband put a quarter in, stepped on the scale, and it dispensed a card, giving his weight and comments about his personality. After reading the card, he handed it to his wife and proudly said, "Look at this." She took it and read it out loud, "You're dynamic, a born leader, handsome, and greatly admired by women for your personality." Giving it a second look, she added, "I see it's got your weight wrong too!" We need to be reminded of what Paul said in Romans 12:3, "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you." Don't get me wrong. It's important to have a healthy self-esteem because it's also tempting to think too low of yourself. Composing Your Spirit is not thinking too low of yourself; It's knowing the basis of your self-worth and your identity in Christ. Without Jesus Christ, you aren't capable of very much by eternal standards, but with Christ and His strength, you're capable of worthy service that has eternal rewards. "Thinking of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with faith" is how to Compose Your Spirit because it helps remind you that we're all sinners, saved by grace through faith, and that we're all equally children of God. Third is to Claim The Covenant. First, you engaged your hearts and Confided In God. Second, you Composed Your Spirit to confess to God. Now is when you're prepared enough to actually Claim The Covenant. Grab hold of God's covenant by relying upon His promise of grace and strength, which will enable you to perform your promise. Don't trust in your own strength or your resolution, but take hold of God's strength. Everyone needs to remember that the act of renewing your covenant with God is not initiated by your work because it comes from God. "Grabbing hold" of the covenant can be understood as a trapeze artist who launches from a platform holding a trapeze bar. Mid-flight, the trapeze artist has to make a choice to let go of the bar so they can spin around midair in order to grab hold of the next bar. For a few fractions of a second, the artist is in the middle of the air holding no bar. The artist is sustained only by the hope that the other trapeze artist has released the other bar toward him, with the perfect force at the perfect time, so when the time comes, he can grab hold of it and swing to the other side. That's what renewing your covenant with God is like. It means letting go of your sinful ways in full confidence that God has done everything necessary to provide you the pathway to a renewed life. Renewing your covenant with God is the start, but Claiming The Covenant and glorifying God instead of yourself, is a daily practice. Ephesians 4:22-23 says, "In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new self, which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." Claiming The Covenant is not only a decision for renewal; It's a daily conscious commitment. Fourth is to Choose Faithfulness. You must resolve to be faithful. First, you engaged your hearts and Confided In God. Second, you Composed Your Spirit and opened your mouth to confess to God. Third, you opened your hands to the Lord to Claim The Covenant. Now, you must resolve in God's strength to never go back. To "resolve" comes from the Latin word resolvere, which means "to loosen" or "to disintegrate." When you resolve to be faithful, what you're actually doing is making a daily conscious decision to loosen everything and anything that would or could pull you back toward the life of sin and unfaithfulness and vowing "never to go back." Think of this like how a marriage covenant is more than just a wedding ceremony. A lot of planning and preparing can go into a wedding. But a marriage is more than a wedding ceremony because it's a lifelong commitment to strengthen and sustain that marriage for the long haul. The vows recited are a covenant agreement that last's for life, and that's the way we are to approach our covenant relationship with God. This requires a daily choice to follow God's will and to be obedient to His commands. Proverbs 3:3 says, "Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." Resolve to have your covenant vows and God's covenant promises written upon your heart, and "let love and faithfulness never leave you." Fifth is to Connect To God In Prayer. Reaching this point means you've Confided In God, Composed Your Spirit, Claimed The Covenant, and Choose Faithfulness. All of that has prepared you to set aside some time and actually get to work. In the most sincere way possible, as if the Lord was visibly present before your very eyes, fall on your knees, lift your hands toward heaven, and open your heart to the Lord in prayer. Prayer is a place. It's a place where you meet God in a genuine conversation that has no boundaries and can be instantly translated into any language. Prayer is not merely an act; It's an attitude of life and the lifeblood of your relationship with God. Acts 6:4 teaches us to "give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word." Why? Because in Matthew 26:41, Jesus tells us to "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation." Watching means you're aware that this world is filled with every kind of temptation, and that Satan is looking for someone to devour by tempting you any way he can. But, when you "Watch and pray" and "give yourself continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word," you'll be equipped for every good work and be able to resist temptation because you're staying strong in God and in His Word. For many people in today's hustle and bustle world, prayer is like the National Anthem before a sporting event. It gets the game started, but simply has no connection with what's happening on the field. Well, just like the first four steps we just discussed that help to prepare your hearts and minds for a covenant renewal while also keeping you supplied throughout the year, prayer, like a marriage, is not a beginning activity, but a lifelong daily commitment. Prayer is being Bible-Centered and Christ-Focused. To prepare you for your journey and keep you supplied along God's path, Confide In God, Compose Your Spirit, Claim The Covenant, Choose Faithfulness, and Connect To God in Prayer. God knows that you aren't perfect, but He still came to you in the person of Jesus Christ. You are not alone or forgotten. You are set apart and being made perfect in Christ so you can follow Christ's lead, embody His example, and learn to love others as God loves you. It doesn't matter how hopeless the world may seem; God is with you and gives you An Altogether Hope to set your soul on fire to go out and transform the world. It doesn't matter how broken or conflicted you might feel. God is with you to give you An Altogether Peace, so your life reflects God's glory. It doesn't matter what kind of life you used to live. God is with you to give you An Altogether Love, so that you can be born a new person and have a new start. And it doesn't matter how long you've been on the journey or how lost you might feel. God is with you to give you An Altogether Joy as a child of God. You know, even the most skilled hiker takes along a flashlight and a map. So, have you ever asked yourself, "Where am I going?" Life is filled with many confusing pathways, so which path should you take? God answers that question by saying His Word is your map and your light is His wisdom. So, follow the steps that we outlined today. Keep God's Word as "A lamp for your feet, and a light for your path." This lighted path does not go wherever you want it to go; It follows God's righteous judgments and His grace. Let the Lord be your guide and be guided by the Lord by submitting your life to Him. Because when His path becomes your path, you'll find the answer to your question, "Where am I going?" So Claim The Covenant, and stay on the path. AMEN. 2