God Honors His Covenant

 God is faithful, and He honors any covenant He makes. The Old Covenant was made with the descendants of Abraham. It was a perpetual covenant, and it is still in effect today. God is still blessing the Jewish people, and He has a plan to use them and to save them before Jesus returns to reign in Jerusalem. God is honoring that covenant now, even though the Jewish people are not being fully faithful to Him. This was true in the northern kingdom of Israel at the time of king Jehoahaz. (II Kings 13:23) Even though the people of Israel had not been faithful to God, and He allowed the king a Aram to oppress them, He was gracious and had compassion on them to turn to them because of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob so many years before. Therefore, He would not cast them from His presence. God is still faithful to us today, too.

The New Covenant is made with individuals Jews and Gentiles, not with a group of people, like the Old Covenant. Jesus died and rose again to establish the New Covenant in His blood. He paid it all, so that anyone who turns from their sins, puts their trust in Him, and surrenders to Jesus as Lord enters the New Covenant. It is an eternal covenant, also. Once we trust Him, Jesus forgives all of our sins and adopts us into the family of God. He will never cast us away from His presence. He will punish us, if we are unfaithful to Him, like He punished Israel. We could be oppressed if we fail to follow Him well. However, He will be gracious to us, have compassion on us, and turn to us to encourage us to return to Him and receive His full blessing. Please, don't let anyone tell you that you can lose your salvation. (John 10:28-30) Do not give up on God when you fail Him. He is not going to give up on you. Live up to your part of the covenant which is to live for Him and become like Jesus in the power of the Spirit. Then, you will live the abundant life He has planned for you.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read II Kings 14-17.