Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
- Psalm 50:5
All authentic covenants come with sacrifice. Let's think about some of them?
A covenant between people may be called a pledge, where something has been promised, and the sacrifice is that something needs to be delivered within the terms of the agreement.
Another might be an alliance or a brotherhood, where the cost of teamwork or mateship comes before the individual.
Another covenant is a country's constitution between its Monarch and the people. Either group can use the constitution as support in a court of law; such is its binding strength. However, within that constitution, neither group can do what it wants, but what is allowed within the constitution rules. It is the same with public organisations, including churches, and their constitutions. We eventually get dismissed if we do not abide by the rules. International treaties are very topical in these days of superpowers and opportunities for vast scale destruction. Treaty signatories abide by the written agreement. They sacrifice some of their military capacity in return for peace. Both orientals and Hebrews (from Noah's children, Japheth and Shem) like to create covenants around meals. Hence, we had the Last Supper, and Communion in today's churches, and many business deals are done over a meal. Of course, there is also a marriage between two people, to the exclusion of all others. When we marry, we put our independence aside, choosing instead to abide by inter-dependence to allow a co-existence within the bonds of peace. We find each covenant has conditions, and the main result is the peace brought by the contract, which we either keep or break. So, we come to Christ and find there is also sacrifice, once the free salvation is sought and delivered.
This divine covenant between God and ourselves is written in Christ's blood due to His sacrifices, plural.
He first put His youth on the chopping block so He could deliver the perfect sacrifice to us on the cross. His obedience brought us the level of maturity and cleanness required of the sacrifice. When the Lord says, "Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice", He is talking about those who have kept peace within the covenant. These Saints' are Holy Ones. They have put their desires on the slaughter table and given their all to Christ and His holiness. They have made individual decisions to deny their fame and fortune for the one written in the covenant between them and God. Today's Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for the covenant kept by Christ, which I should also follow. Please help me to treat your covenant with more depth and desire and greater fervency, so that I can accomplish your desires for me.
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