We all make promises we know we can't keep, sign contracts we're unsure we can uphold. Throughout his life, David made contracts and promises that eventually fell apart. It wasn't until he turned his life over to God that he understood the true difference between these contracts and a covenants of God.


In this post, David discusses these differences.

Contract
A contract is negotiated between two equal parties, an agreement because each party needs something that the other has. They can bargain with each other, when both parties agree on price then a solemn contract is signed. Once signed, it’s binding unless either side fails to keep their side of the contract. One party can break it, and then the other is free from the terms of the contract. Life is full of contracts. Those to hire, purchase, mortgages, and a number of other things.

You can never have a Contract with God, only a Covenant!

Covenant

A Covenant is a solemn and binding agreement between two parties with obligations on both sides. Unlike a contract, a Covenant is between two unequal parties, one of whom is not in a position to be bargained or negotiated with. It is therefore a binding agreement between a strong person and a weaker person. A weaker person can’t crumble or complain about the terms of the covenant, they can only say Yes or No.

When we come into a relationship with God, you can’t bargain with God. You can’t say if I do this will you do that. You can say No or you can say Yes, and that’s all you can do. It’s a covenant between a strong God and weaker people. The simple reason for that is we have nothing that God needs, nothing that He wants. Therefore we can’t negotiate with God. 

If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
-Psalm 50:12 King James Version

You can’t bargain with someone that has everything, you've got nothing to bargain with. Jacob, when running away from his father and mother, tried to bargain with God. He had a dream ‘Jacob’s ladder’. 

God if you will bring me back into my father’s house in peace I’ll give you a tenth of all that I possess, a tenth is a tithe. He was trying to bargain with God. You can’t do that because all the gold, silver, money, and everything in the world belongs to God already. Years later Jacob found out the hard way. 

One night, God wrestled with him, won the battle and pulled his leg out of his joint. For the rest of his life Jacob limped. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel but he still limped for the rest of his life. God was saying to Jacob, you don’t bargain with me!

God’s Covenant of Love

Thank God He doesn’t make contracts with us because we are so weak and silly we would break it in no time. Throughout the Holy Bible, God says when I make a covenant, you may break it but I never will. And that’s where our security lies. A covenant of love based on promises which God will never break and which He will keep. A covenant making God and a covenant keeping God! Thank God He is, and we can rejoice in that, and feel secure because we know ourselves too well. Our love can fail for Him but God’s love will not fail, based on a solemn promise and a solemn covenant.

With Blessing in Christ,

David & Gay

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