A Contract with God
I have a new
job. Well, really, I now have 'two' jobs built into one. On the
16th of this month I received a promotion and new job title--project
manager. Along with this honor I got to keep my current position, plus,
pick up a lot more responsibilities and jobs. I tell you all this
good news simply because it relates to the subject I want to present this
morning: a contract with God.
My new role
adds responsibility in the contracting side of things as I am now the senior
company representative in Forces Command (
Although no
written signature 'sealed' our contract with our maker, one does exist between
you and God if you claim to be a Christian. The very term, covenant, means
an agreement or promise. This covenant is what God entered in with us
through Abraham several years ago. Galatians 3:8-29 gives us a great look
at the history when our contract with God was made. I ask you to now read
those Scriptures and then return to this email.
Along with a
contract, comes baggage. Baggage such as work, obligations, laws
and wars.
Just like in my line of work, OUR line of work for Christ demands this same
baggage. It requires us to work (1st Cor 3:9). We have to
work at a lot of things. There are different kinds of
working, but the same God works all of them in all men.(1st Cor 12:6) We have to work
at not living according to the sinful nature (Romans 8:10-14). We have to
work at evangelism (Luke 10:2). These are but a few of the many examples
that describe what work we must do in our contract. We are obligated
to obey God (Gal 5:3). There are several new laws that come with
our contract, and of course the most important are:
Love your neighbor as yourself (Mt, 19:19, Mt 22:39, Mk 12:31, Mk 12:33, Lk
10:27, Rom 13:9, Gal 5:14 and Jas 2:8), and Love God with everything that
you are (e.g. Mt 11:37-40). There are plenty of other laws, including
God's "original ten", but those two sum them all up. As we
entered this contract, we can expect our competition to war with
us. And satan will, given the opportunity, war
mightily. Just like he did to Peter (Lk 22:31), he will attempt to shake
us until we lose the battle. And in 1st Peter 2:11, we are warned about satan working on our weaknesses and how we should wage war
against him.
There are
different kinds of contracts in our world today. Some require payment up front, others provide payment as time
progresses, and yet
some require payment only when the contract is completed. Our contract with God
includes all three. We were paid by the death of Jesus up front. We are paid daily by God as he continues to answer our
prayers. We will receive our final payment when our contract expires on
the day we expire.
Today, and everyday,
as long as we are Christians, our contract calls for us to work hard for Jesus. We are obliged to obey God because of the
tremendous sacrifice of His Son. The laws may be difficult, but they are not
impossible. And because Jesus signed our contract with His blood, the wars we fight can be won.
May God Bless.
Mac