Now and then I have the privilege of marrying young couples who are in love. We meet with them beforehand and it is wonderful to see them growing through this process as they start seeing the reality on the other side of being in love.
One of the things that we look at is the marriage contract. By law, a contract must be drawn up and the love birds struggle to understand why. Well, it’s for the day you decide not to stay together anymore.
As one they usually respond: “It will never happen to us”. Unfortunately, the reality out there gives them a less than 50 percent chance not to use that contract one day.
A contract is for the day the parties cannot agree and then something else, a document, has to decide what is going to happen next and how this broken relationship will go forward.
And normally most contracts are compiled in such a way that you, the one who is investing, always have to pay up. It’s no use reading the contract that you sign when you buy a cell phone or a car. In addition to the incomprehensible terminology, it benefits the other party and you have to pay up.
There’s a contract between us and God too. The first one God concluded with his people when He gave them the ten commandments on the stone tablets. This was a clear list of do’s and don’ts and obviously also what would happen to you when you’re in breach of contract. And yes, people were actually on the losing side and had to pay with their lives.
Fortunately, Jesus completely rewrote this contract. See how well the contract is described here: 16-17Like a will that takes effect when someone dies, the new covenant was put into action at Jesus’ death. His death marked the transition from the old plan to the new one, cancelling the old obligations and accompanying sins, and summoning the heirs to receive the eternal inheritance that was promised them. He brought together God and his people in this new way.
This contract was also drawn up unilaterally, but this time it’s not the big firms that benefit, but the client, us! We win all the way. Jesus, who had drawn up the contract, wrote it with His own blood. He paid for it Himself. He paid with His life.
The new contract is completely different from the previous one. With the previous one people had to work hard, much blood flowed on altars, but they could still lose. Jesus’ new contract brought us freedom and life and peace.
And what can one say about this?
Jesus is a wonderful rewriter of contracts. That is proof of real love.
Scripture
Hebrews 9:16-17
Reflection
What does the new contract do to you?
How does it change your way of living?
How do you want to change as a result of it?
Prayer
Our Father, thank you so much for this new contract! I’m so grateful that I can live under this contract, because I don’t know if I would’ve made it with the previous one. Help me to comply with my part of the agreement and make a difference wherever I go. In Jesus’ Name, amen.