The idea of covenant is God’s. Ancient cultures picked up on the idea and used the principles to preserve, among other things, the wealth of the family line and protection against enemies and outside threats. Apart from God’s loving administration of HIS covenants for families, these agreements often produce something other than Godly results.

According to F. Douglas Pennoyer, writing on the subject of collective activity among families and people groups, ungodly covenants are the underpinning for families and communities whose goal in making covenant is restrictive, in a negative sense. In such cases, working together as a unit, the family’s influence is exerted to hold everyone inside of established family boundaries.

The resulting limitations maintain family traditions that emphasize ties to family. So, the family—not God—becomes the source of strength through unspoken, behaviorally-enforced views that see anyone outside of the family with suspicion and contempt, literally, a threat to the family’s security. By working together as a family this way, competition for dominance and the upper hand is passed to the children, teaching them compliance with family spirits—spirits associated with a particular family, unique to that family’s beliefs.

God’s idea of covenant isn’t like that. Based on His covenant plan, God called Abram away from family and homeland to a land and purpose the Lord destined for him. Abram obeyed and trusted God, a decision he freely chose. He became the patriarch of the Hebrew people and even received a new name, given by God: Abraham, father of nations. 

The promises of God are not for Abraham only, but also for generations to come: “In Your seed (children) all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” You and I were in the heart of God when He created the Abrahamic Covenant. He gave us the Kingdom with every imaginable blessing and made us family. God loved, gave, and saved. We believe Him and receive His Kingdom.

That’s the plan.

Amen.

Genesis 12:1; 15:1; 17:5; 22:17-18 | John 3:16 | John 17:3  | Verses@Once

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