Covenant Thoughts

Lately, I’ve found myself thinking over and pondering the nature of covenant. Partly because the Prayer Warriors session is only a couple of weeks away from prayerfully signing their Officers Covenant , which is always a very moving ceremony for me. And each year, as Covenant Sunday approaches, I’ve also made it a practice to re-read James Garlow’s excellent little book on the subject – cleverly entitled The Covenant – as well as Commissioner Ed Read’s classic Keepers of the Covenant.

Add to all this the fact that I’ve recently had the chance to read through the manuscript of a fine, soon-to-be-published book on covenant by a Canadian Salvationist.

All in all, I’ve been enjoying a fantastic reminder of the unique covenant relationship I’ve entered into with God, as a Salvationist and as an officer.

Each of us, as Salvationists, has willingly bound ourselves to God by at least one of three different covenants: the Junior Soldier Promise, the Soldier’s Covenant (previously The Articles of War), and the Officer's Covenant. The terms, declarations, and promises we commit to in these covenants very much defines how we relate to God and others, and describes what people can expect of us by way of our actions and values.

In the forward to Commissioner Read’s book, then-General Paul Rader shared well-worded insights about the relationship between Salvationism and covenant when he wrote:

If there is one thing that sets Salvationists apart in these times more than any other it is that Salvationists are people of Covenant. If you want to know what makes the Army tick at its best, then you must understand the compelling significance of Covenant. A single woman officer refuses to abandon her post in a region exploding in cruel violence. A young couple defies all the stereotypes of their generation in a willingness to reach the people of a country recently reclaimed from Marxism. A former officer in his nineties in Communist China is still loyal to his calling after 45 years of separation from all the usual supports of his Salvationism. A man and wife whose marriage is under stress press their way through to a deeper commitment to one another and to their family and future. An aging husband devoted himself entirely to the care of his now helpless wife whose darkening mind the kindly light of reason has long since been denied. It’s all about Covenant.

…This is an era of contractual negotiation, of ensuring that one’s options are open, that one always preserves the chance to cut and run when the going gets tough or the constraints of commitment too binding. Covenant is a very different arrangement. Benefits and options, important as they may be, are not the issue

…We never needed to understand [Covenant] more than now. It is vital to the understanding of every Salvationist who may have been dedicated under an Army flag, later sealing their Soldier’s Covenant as they entered the family of faith and enlisted in this global fighting force. [Covenant] is what makes members into soldiers, and faithful attenders into fighting units. It is what makes otherwise sincere supporters the very stuff that makes an Army.

Tell me…when was the last time you read through the covenant(s) that you’ve promised, and signed before God? Why not take a look today and see the extent to which your life matches what you’ve promised?

Keep your altar ready and your fire hot…

Willis