They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul.

2 Chronicles 15: 10-15

10 They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. 11 At that time they sacrificed to the Lord seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back. 12 They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul. 13 All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. 14 They took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. 15 All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.

Today’s title is “Grace Renewed”

One of the greatest blessings of God for His people is that He makes a covenant with us. God makes a covenant with us as if we are equal partners to Him. Through the covenant that He enters with people, God not only binds people but also Himself. Although God’s covenant with His people had various forms depending on the circumstances, there are essential underlying elements at the basis of all the covenants. We can sum it up as “You will be my people and I will be your God”. The basic motto of all the covenants whether it was with Adam, Abraham, Moses, or David was it. Through the covenants, God pledges that He will be our God. He will lead us, multiply us, bless us, care for us, forgive us and be with us forever with love. In return, people pledge that they will glorify God by worshipping Him, being faithful to Him, and living in a way to honor Him with love. God has faithfully kept all the covenants. People, on the contrary, have broken the covenants with God over and over again starting from Adam. But God is almost always ready to restore and renew the broken covenants. We see one such example in today’s passage. God’s covenant with David and Solomon has been broken by the successors such as Rehoboam. People followed the king in deserting God. With the spiritual decline, the overall welfare of the kingdom plunged too. Kingdom became divided. Foreign countries who were subjugated in the reign of David and Solomon now ceaselessly threatened them. King Asa was able to see the clear connection between the spiritual decline and the decline of the kingdom’s welfare. The only way to restore the previous blessings was to return to the Lord. He gathers all the people of Israel in Jerusalem and renews their covenant with God. They pledge to seek the Lord with all their heart and soul. All who would not seek the Lord were to be put to death. They did it wholeheartedly and they sought God eagerly. As a result, God was found by them. He gave them rest on every side. It is as simple as that. This is the unchanging principle of loving God. We broke the covenants. We abandoned God. God has all the covenantal rights to abandon us. But He still has not ceased to have compassion for us. No matter how screwed up you are, no matter how far off you are from God, if you return wholeheartedly to God and seek Him eagerly, He will restore you and surround you with His peace. Have you ever received such grace of renewed love and blessings from God? I have a lot of it. If you haven’t, you can receive it now. Just return to Him wholeheartedly and seek Him eagerly. He will surely be found. Amen!