2 Kings 4:17 And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and people, that they should be the LORD’s people, and also between the king and the people. (ESV)
Joash was seven years old when he began to rule Judah. He was in no position to know how to rule. What seven-year-old is ready for that responsibility? So Jehoiada the priest stood in a position to help Joash learn how to lead, and he did so by starting with covenants.
That’s what priests did in the Old Testament. They worked in the world of covenants.
A covenant is “an agreement between two contracting parties, originally sealed with blood; a bond, or a law; a permanent religious dispensation. (COVENANT – JewishEncyclopedia.com)
As leaders living out our faith in Christ, we also work in the world of covenants.
Covenants are not communication.
Covenants are communion.
The task of living out God’s covenant given to us through Jesus Christ is not communication but communion — “the healing and restoration and creation of love relationships between God and his fighting children and our fought-over creation.” (The Contemplative Pastor, Eugene Peterson). It is loving God and loving others.
What are some of the ways we keep covenant before people?
As men and women of the covenant, we teach how to be the Lord’s people.
We remind people of not only God’s obligation in the covenant but our obligations as well.
We help identify the idols, the strongholds in life that need to be torn down.
We live in communion
— Photo by Robert Lukeman on Unsplash
