Holy Covenant Speaker: Sis. Stella Dhinakaran Gist: When you lead a holy life and hold on to the Lord, He will establish a covenant of holiness with us, and hold our families dear to Him. He will change your family into a sanctified one, which would raise up a number of other holy families. 'You shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy." (Leviticus 20:26)
The Cherubims and Seraphims praise God saying, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts' (Isaiah 6:2,3). The Lord wants to grant you the same holiness.
Joshua proclaims, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). He was able to claim this, as the whole of his family was holy devoid of sin. The Lord wishes to transform our family also into a holy one. He says, "I am the Lord who sanctifies you." (Leviticus 22: 9,32)
Consider the families, which could not maintain their holiness: God who created Adam and Eve in His own image gave them just one command, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:16,17). As the Bible warns, "The thief does not come expect to steal and to kill and destroy' (John 10:10). Satan, came in search of Eve. Perceiving her volatile weakness, he created in her a desire for the fruit saying, "How beautiful is the fruit. 'If you eat it your eyes will be opened'" (Genesis 3:5). Ultimately both Adam and Eve, disobeyed to God's words, deflected from holiness and were trapped by sin.
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."(1 Peter 5: 8)
We meet another couple in the New Testament, Ananias and Saphir, who could not maintain their holiness. Induced by Satan who put a poisonous idea in their minds, they after selling their possessions kept back a parrot of it and brought the remainder to the apostles' feet. The Holy Spirit could not be deceived. Alas! They met their pathetic death.
My friend, let us not be defrauders of God; let us be holy in our life cent percent and hold on to Him; He will establish a covenant of holiness with us, and hold our families dear to Him. If you are double minded, you would be unstable in all your ways (James 1:8).
"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded." (James 4:8)
"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." (James 4:10)
To establish a covenant with the Lord what you have to do is simple. If you surrender yourself to God and pray every minute, "O Lord, grant me Your grace to live like You. Make me holy." Then He will constitute a covenant with you.
"Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." (2 Corinthians 7:1)
1 Peter 3:15, exhorts us of the same truth. The very foundation of our spiritual life is the process of becoming holy.
There are five members in a decent family, husband, wife and three children, but no one had any fear of God. The parents were, in a formal sense, regular churchgoers; they believed that it was a way for becoming holy. They were not bothered how they lived during the week and how they brought up their children. They gave the children good education, but no spiritual training, such as Bible reading, prayer and other God related activities. The children grew up without any spiritual foundation. The family entertained itself mocking other people and talking ill of their families with the arrogant feeling that they were alone righteous. But, God was watching, permitting them more and more margin of His love. But, suddenly, one day, the eldest son who was a good student developed some brain disorder, lost both his memory power and normal behaviour. No doctor could find a remedy. While the family was desperate, a servant of God visited the family for prayer. He advised them, "First surrender your hearts to God. Seek Him, as a family. He will come into your family. I shall also fast and pray along with you." After prayer, they scaled down their arrogance and empty pride, offering themselves for a holy life. The Lord had compassion, made them holy and embraced them with the bonds of love. He healed the boy also.
Dear friend, will you also humble yourselves in the presence of God and surrender yourselves praying, "O Lord, remember me and my family. Sanctify our family." God will guide your family, as He rid the previously mentioned family of wasteful and meaningless gossip and silly talk and made it holy. In the coming days, He will change your family into a sanctified one, which would raise up a number of other holy families.
Prayer:
Gracious Heavenly Father,
You are holy and Almighty. I desire to be holy just as You are holy. Remember my family and me. Sanctify our family. Deliver us from all temptations that Satan brings. Help me to lead a life that is pleasing in Your sight. Teach me to be humble always. In Jesus' mighty name, I pray.
Amen. |