Daily Devotional: Friday, June 23 - Lifetime Contract

“I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.” — Jeremiah 32:40

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Anyone who follows professional sports knows that, at some point, the conversation will invariably turn to contracts. Maybe a star player just signed a groundbreaking new free agency deal while another one may be unhappy with the team’s contract offer. Fans frequently hear about their favorite players being in the midst of “contract negotiations” with the team, or players waiving a “no-trade” clause in their contracts, giving the team permission to trade them.

Contracts are a part of sports. And as pro sports continue to balloon in value, the contracts continue to increase in value every year.

Believers are in a type of contract with God as well, only this contract is of infinitely more value to us than hundreds of millions of dollars. Our “contract” with God is called a covenant — the Covenant of Grace. It’s far more than a business arrangement; it’s rooted in a relationship with Him.

God, in His perfection, didn’t have any obligation to enter into a covenant with humans. Yet He voluntarily stooped down to our level and bound Himself to us. He promised to uphold His side of the covenant by saving His people from the just consequences of their sins and by granting to them a glorious eternal life with Him.

Humanity’s side of the covenant is simple: faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Yet this faith is not something that people manufacture on their own. Instead, God gave His people faith as a gift through the grace that is a fundamental attribute of who God is. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

If you have faith in Christ, you are in the Covenant of Grace. You are enabled to joyfully obey Him, commune with Him, worship Him and love the people He’s created. He’s begun a relationship with you, He desires for you to seek Him in His Word, and He’s promised eternal salvation in His presence forever.

— Kevin Mercer

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