Contemplative Bible Reading

2 Chronicles 34:29-31 (New International Version 2011)

²⁹ Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ³⁰ He went up to the temple of the LORD with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the LORD. ³¹ The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD—to follow the LORD and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book.

The king here is Josiah. He was one of the last “good” kings in Judah. He was good because when he learned of the law, i.e., the covenant, he did everything he could to obey the words of the covenant.

I keep noticing how often these passage in this part of the Old Testament call it “the covenant.” These people had a covenant or an agreement with the LORD. It was sort of a contract.

Do I have a contract with God? I started to think of this for a while. One quick answer is “yes.” If I do what God wants, I am saved.

Ooooops, that doesn’t work. Sometimes I do what God wants. Then there are the other times – somewhere between 2% and 98% of the time – when I don’t do so well. I’m not trying to exagarate here, but let’s try to remember every person I have met today and ask myself how much I loved each and every one of them. And that is just the simple parts of “the contract.”

Have I broken the contract? Will God turn his back on me? I sure hope not.

I believe I have better than a contract that I have to renew every day. Instead, I have grace.

God, thank you for granting grace.