Lent Day 31 – Lenten Devotion – Wednesday, March 20, 2024
What a Friend We Have in Jesus
Scriven, Converse
What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
What a privilege to carry
Ev'rything to God in prayer
Oh what peace we often forfeit
Oh what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Ev'rything to God in prayer
“The days are surely coming, says The Lord, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt - a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says The Lord.”
A promise is a promise. How long can you keep a promise? We each try desperately to keep our promises, but they often get broken. Good relationships are built on trust. Can we trust others? Can others trust us? Can we trust ourselves to keep our word?
A covenant is a special kind of promise. A covenant requires both parties to mutually keep their part of the promise. If one party fails their part of the promise, the other party is under no obligation to keep their part of the covenant. The love of God in our friend Jesus, in God's grace alone, is so great, that even when we break our part of the promise, God keeps his part.
How long can you keep a promise? Maybe not for very long. God in our friend, Jesus, in grace alone, is truly glorified, keeping his covenant with us forever!
Let us pray: Jesus, today I thank you for your friendship, for your covenant, for your loyalty, for keeping your promises, for being able to trust you. Thank you for establishing a new covenant that I cannot break. Bless me with the power of your faithful friendship in the glorified grace alone of Jesus Christ. By your Holy Spirit, I renew my promise to make you and my neighbors first. In your name, I take everything to you, in prayer. Amen.
