The other word is Covenant. It is simply defined as "an agreement". As used in theology, it has a bit more meaning- "an agreement that brings about a relationship of commitment between God and His people. The Jewish faith is based on the biblical covenants made with Abraham, Moses, and David."
In the Bible Dictionary the meaning is even stronger- "Sometimes denotes an agreement between persons (1 Sam. 23:18) or nations (1 Sam. 11:1); more often between God and man; but in this latter case it is important to notice that the two parties to the agreement do not stand in the relation of independent and equal contractors. God in His good pleasure fixes the terms, which man accepts. The same word is sometimes rendered 'testament'. The gospel is so arranged that principles and ordinances are received by covenant placing the recipient under strong obligation and responsibility to honor the commitment. Thus the severe consequences to Ananias and Sapphira, who deliberately broke their covenant and lied unto God (Acts 5:1-11)."
As defined by me- a covenant is a promise from me to God to do something that He has asked of me. He sets the terms and conditions, sets forth the blessings of keeping the covenant, affixes the consequences of not keeping the covenant and *ALWAYS* keeps His end of the "bargain".
Just over 19 years ago, I entered the Temple for the first time for the purpose of making covenants with God and learning what He would have me know. As I attended the Temple this past Saturday, these two words really caught my attention more than I think they ever had. 19 years ago I covenanted to consecrate my time and talents to the Lord's purposes. On Saturday I began to really pondered what I was doing to fulfill that covenant. My conclusion was "not enough". My next question to the Lord was "which talent?" I have a lot of talents that the Lord has given me. I like to joke and say I'm a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. It's self-deprecating but I've always felt it was true. So which of these many things that I'm capable of doing does the Lord want me to use to help build His Kingdom? The one that kept coming back over and over was sewing and other handwork. Okay....... how in the world does sewing help build the Kingdom?? I talked with some friends about it on Sunday. Several suggested that LDS Humanitarian Services was in need of quilts around the world. Well. That certainly is part of my talents!! I've been making quilts for about 20 years! I decided to talk to my Bishop to see if there was anything specific our ward had been asked to do by humanitarian services (HS from here on out). He told me that each ward has to request projects from HS. He then asked me to look into what projects HS has available currently. He said there are several groups at Church that would be able to do something. Wow. I didn't expect to be given an assignment from the Bishop and I'm not sure I was expecting to get a direction to go from the Lord quite so quickly!!!
On Monday morning, I went down to our local HS center ready to pick up as many projects as I thought possible and get going on them immediately. Much to my dismay, our local center is only open Tues.-Thurs. according to the front door. I went home at a complete loss as to what to do next. I had my day planned around doing HS projects!! As I sat and again pondered what I was supposed to do, I remembered a project I had kind of started about 4 years ago. I had found the pattern, bought the materials and then put it in a drawer to sit for the next 4 years. I finally pulled it out into the light of day and committed to actually finish it. It may not seem to be a really important project. It's an altar cloth for the Temple. Not many people will ever see it, it doesn't serve the needy, it doesn't warm the cold. In reality, it's an over-sized, crocheted doily. So how does *that* help fulfill my covenant?? Last night instead of sitting watching something on hulu that has no eternal value, I consecrated my time to making something for the house of the Lord. I remembered as I crocheted that giving my service willingly was part of fulfilling that covenant. That spending my time doing something for the Lord was part of fulfilling that covenant. That maybe the time given was more important than the actual product. I've done service projects in the past quite unwillingly. I'm thinking that while the Lord is grateful something got accomplished, He wasn't too impressed with my attitude and didn't really count it as a blessing to me. And it probably didn't qualify as keeping my covenant.
So I am starting a new chapter in life. I am going to more fully keep the covenant I have made with the Lord. I am going to willingly consecrate more of my time, talents and all that the Lord has given me to Him and His purposes. One step at a time. Always striving to be better.
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| The first block/motif for the altar cloth. It hasn't been washed and blocked so it's not as perfect as it will be. :-) Just imagine dozens of these all hooked together and you'll get the picture of the finished cloth. |
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