Anything Less Than Everything

Covenant requires us to be fully invested in our relationships with God, our family, and our church. Anything less than everything is not a covenant relationship.

In our relationship with God, we can never match the value of His investment in the covenant He offers us. It would be unreasonable for Him to ask that of us and impossible for us to to try to equal it. What He does require is that we match His level of commitment. He is all in. We need to be all in.

In business, contracts and agreements between parties seek to piece together details so that, in the end, you have accounted for 100%. The investment may be 50/50 or 70/30, but ultimately you determine what 100% looks like and how it is divided.

Covenant does not define itself in those terms. Covenant demands a total commitment from all of the parties so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. As an example, what would your church look like if everyone truly lived out a covenant relationship with God and with each other? There would never be a lack of any thing necessary to be highly effective in building the Kingdom. There would always be more than enough teachers, evangelists, resources, intercessors, missionaries...

If husbands and wives are totally invested in their marriages, there is no plan B. The only thing that matters is the giving of one's life to the other even when your spouse doesn't choose to be as completely invested as you are. Your commitment is a choice that is based on the resolve to act and live with integrity. It is not based on someone else's action or lack of action.

To receive all of the benefits of the covenant you must be fully invested. Many Christians want the best that God has to offer while holding back their best from Him. Consider these selected verses from Luke 14.

Luke 14:25 Great crowds were following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my follower you must love me more than your own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, more than your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And you cannot be my disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow me. 28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to pay the bills? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of funds. And then how everyone would laugh at you! 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and ran out of money before it was finished!’ 33 So no one can become my disciple without giving up everything for me.

God never hides the fact that He asks for a total commitment. He encourages us to count the cost of being all in. Ultimately we will always gain more than give, but we must give all we have to gain all He has promised. Anything less than everything is not a covenant relationship.

Keep living the New Life!

Pastor Mark