"I will establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you." (Gen 9:9)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we will share about the covenant with God and with men: for those who belong to God, who live in communion with Him; for those who once lived but are now distant; for those who know and for those who do not know God; and for those who do not believe in God.

Through the covenant God makes with Noah, it extends to all humanity... God desires to make this covenant with those who never had it, with those who broke it and can re-establish it, and for all who wish to have this covenant. God is not forcing or saying that He will do this without our consent; He only says that He will do it, IF WE ACCEPT!

What is the reason God desires to make a covenant with us? Why does He care about it, if nowadays this business of a covenant is OUTDATED? What is a covenant or what does it mean? Why do many people not succeed in anything in life?

"I will establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you." (Gen 17:7)

The books of the Pentateuch (which are the first five books of the Bible) very constantly speak of a covenant with God, revealing the Lord's immense desire to have a covenant with us.

The first sign of God's covenant is the rainbow. Then the tablets of the law (the Ten Commandments) delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai; after that, Moses' staff, the Ark of the Covenant, the animals sacrificed to renew this covenant... And throughout the history of God's people, we always see God wanting to make a covenant with our fathers in faith; or wanting to re-establish it. This covenant means that we have a commitment to God, and He commits to us.

From the acceptance of this covenant, we assume a commitment to God. And how wonderful it is to have this commitment to God! Some people like to say they are "free, light, and unattached," and are willing to relate to someone. But how difficult it is to hear people say they are "free, light, and unattached" to relate to God.

The reason God desires to make a covenant with us is already explained in the passage above: He wants to be our God... He cares about this covenant because from it He has the freedom to act in our lives, to protect us, to heal us, to free us, in a more intimate and concrete way. For you who do not believe, we have already described in other posts that God does not interfere where He is not called. So, we must understand that those who ask or allow God to act in their lives in this way greatly improve their relationship with God.

Do you want to do well in life, in business, in family, in society, in dating, in marriage? There is a secret in the word of God:

"Therefore, you shall keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. (Dt 29:9)"

God does EVERYTHING He can so that our ancient fathers would not abandon their covenant. It is God Himself who makes this covenant with us. What an honor for us, isn't it? Some people, unfortunately, do not value what God does!

Then, when the fullness of time arrived, God became incarnate through the "yes" of a woman and lived our nature to reclaim this covenant that was being forgotten or lost. And what wonders Jesus proclaims and truly performs. Saint Paul describes a little of the New Covenant of Christ:

"In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.'" (1 Cor 11:25)

The covenant that Jesus establishes with us is no longer based on the blood of animals, but on His own blood, which guarantees us the certainty and faithfulness of the Lord...

"This saying is trustworthy: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself." (2 Tim 2:11-13)

Why do many people nowadays consider this business of wearing a ring outdated? The first reason this happens is that they broke the covenant with God. From then on, they only fall, from bad to worse: living dissolutely in orgies and revelry; and also disappointing the people around them.

But let's look beneath the events at what really happens.

The covenant, a sign of commitment, like several other signs, was created by God. What God wants is our commitment; He wants our goodwill to accept this covenant and not to worry about who will see it; what matters is that we want to respond to God's love, which is why we accept His covenant.

So, the devil, who is an imitator, the father of lies (cf. John 8:44) and a counterfeiter of the things God does, tried to copy this business of a covenant. However, the devil's covenant is totally the opposite of the covenant with God. Without God, there is no faithfulness, no respect for people, no love, no life! The covenant that does not come from God is known as "hooking up." Perhaps this word can DISTINGUISH what comes from and is of God and what does not come and is not...

People want to seek a God of convenience: to be with Him when they need Him and after being helped, they continue to live in the life of sins and lies they are accustomed to, since there is no commitment to God. THIS GOD DOES NOT EXIST!!! Jesus shed His blood on the cross to make this new covenant with us, which gives us intimacy and closeness to God, to the point that He says:

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Heb 8:10)

Notice God's tenderness, the sweetness with which He wants to treat us, the way He wants to make, renew, and restore this covenant with us. Wonderful signs in our spirit and in our heart.

But look how the banality of "hooking up" reaches all sides of society. Divine marriages, for example, have become human and banal marriages (things created by God, ruined by not assuming what God truly wants).

People marry by contract and when they no longer want to be with the other person, they break the false covenant they made one day. With the false argument: "I HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE HAPPY"; and they blame God for their unhappiness, as if God had anything to do with the wrong things and unconscious choices that many make. That is wrong! God has nothing to do with anyone's unhappiness; He only wants everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (cf. 1 Tim 2:4).

From where, then, do such things arise? From each one's sin, of course, by not accepting God's covenant, they end up spoiling even the covenant with men; but let's understand it deeply.

This whole story begins even before dating. They do not live a good courtship, which is the preparation for marriage (in other posts we will talk more about the topic of dating). They have no intimacy (which means knowing the other's heart, tastes, values), they start dating by "hooking up" with each other, without purpose, without commitments ("If it works out, we'll keep hooking up, otherwise, forget it!").

What are today's commitments? One-night commitments, one-moment commitments, one-party commitments, one-day commitments, one-week commitments? Unfortunately, brothers, especially among brothers in the Church and Christians...

This plague of "hooking up" whose purpose is to accustom us to being without commitment with people, with our boyfriend/girlfriend, with our husband/wife, and consequently, without commitment to God, is inserted in the Church, like a disaster that wants to destroy it (in other posts we will talk more about the Church of Jesus Christ) from the inside out. THIS PLAGUE MUST BE ELIMINATED!!! (from our dictionary, from our vocabulary, from our mind, from our daily life, from our life).

I made a decision, ever since I became aware of these "hooking up" things: I NEVER HOOKED UP WITH ANYONE AGAIN.

It is a way of demonstrating with my attitudes that I have a covenant with God:

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power." (1 Cor 4:20)

What do I do then? I renounce all the evil of casual relationships and I have God's blessing to date. In my dating relationship, I live in an alliance with my girlfriend (which means I have nothing with anyone else) and I maintain my commitment to God (and I receive His blessing in my dating, preparing for marriage). And a blessed marriage is one that had purposes, that remained in God's presence, that stood firm, even amidst tribulations and difficulties, and did not break the covenant with the Lord (in other posts we will talk more about the theme of sexuality and affectivity).

God wants to make a covenant with you and give you this grace to break with all kinds of casual relationships!

The Holy Spirit comes to seal this covenant in us and gives us strength to pursue the goal of our hope....

"And hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Rom 5:5)

Therefore, beloved of God, the Father makes the covenant with us; Jesus consummates this covenant and gives us, with His blood, the perfection of the new covenant; and the Holy Spirit comes and seals all this by the power of His holy love.

Let us make a covenant with the Lord and we will see how our life changes; our family will change; our friends will change; our dating will change; our marriage will change; our service will change; everything will change; always for the better, of course. What is good can get better, and what is bad, will become good!

Let us trust in the Lord's covenant, for it is He Himself who calls us and leads us:

"Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the ETERNAL COVENANT brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." (Heb 13:20-21)