THE BLOOD MAKES THE DIFFERENCE

A blood covenant is a union in which all assets, talents, debts, and liabilities are held mutually. A blood covenant meant you were totally and forever giving yourself away to somebody else. Nothing could ever be yours alone again. All that you were, all that you had or ever would have, became the equal property of your covenant partner. The body of Christ desperately needs to become more covenant-minded. The central theme of this God-given bond is love and that we need one another.

Solomon wrote in Eccl. 4:9-12, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? Though one be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

The Blood Covenant was originated by God and not man. It started in the Garden of Eden when God slew the animals to clothe Adam and Eve after they sinned. In the Hebrew language the word for “covenant” means ‘to cut flesh’ or ‘to make an incision.’ When a covenant is ‘cut’, there is always a shedding of blood as a sign of the pledge between the two parties.

Lev. 17:11 says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood.” No blood, no life.

In the Old Testament some covenants were made by cutting their thumbs, wrists, or palms and mixing their blood together. In fact, this is where the handshake came from. Today we are “made nigh by the blood of Christ” Eph. 2:13. Jesus shed His blood so we wouldn’t have to shed ours, and we come into a covenant relationship with God through faith in that blood.

We need to realize that The Blood Covenant is a very sacred thing even today, for it forms a bond between two people that creates a relationship that is stronger than normal family ties. When the world observes this union that is centered around the love of God, they’ll be drawn into a covenant relationship with Christ and other believers. Through the action of believers fulfilling their part of the covenant we have in the blood of Jesus, when you become your brothers’ keeper, they’ll see for themselves that the Lord came to give us life and give it more abundantly John 10:10.

The Body of Christ would be a haven of rest and protection for all the world if more of its’ members had a David or a Jonathan in their lives. And where does one find such a friend? The first place to look is in the mirror. Don’t waste your time waiting for somebody to come up and knock on your front door because chances are it will never happen. Instead, make a commitment to become a friend. Friendships don’t just happen on their own. They are planned and cultivated and it starts with you. It is common knowledge that good things don’t just happen to people.

Life is what you make it and more times than not we are the ones who have to make good things happen. The same can be said about covenant relationships. Prov. 18:24 says, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” With Christ as your Lord and example prepare your heart to become a lifelong friend to another, to become part of a threefold cord that is not easily broken.

Love is what the world is looking for and love is what God and the Christian experience is all about. Take the first step and be willing to reach out and get involved with other people. Don’t sit around and wait for someone to come and offer you their hand in friendship. You make the first move and begin by asking the Lord to place in your heart the name of a person who desperately needs a true friend in their life. For sure, there is at least one person out there who is urgently waiting to hear from you.

In Paul’s last letter before his death he wrote about a true friend who was in his life. 2 Tim. 1:16-18 states, “The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chains; but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very diligently and found me. The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day - and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus.”

Onesiphorus had ridden his donkey a long distance to get to Rome, and in spite of being tired and weary, he searched hard for Paul until he found him. Love seeks to bless other people, and this same love will energize you and give you strength and endurance, because you’re in the flow of what God desires. God can use you on a regular basis and if He puts somebody on your heart, don’t make a feeble attempt to help them, do it diligently. Don’t sit around all day thinking only about yourself and about what you want and what you don’t have. Don’t murmur and complain about how other people don’t love you and never come to visit you. This will steal your peace and joy and make you old before your time.

Paul said “for all seek their own,” Phil. 2:21 but the love of God will move you to seek another’s benefit and well-being 1 Cor. 10:24. The Message? Bible says, “We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.”

Paul wrote in Phil. 2:19, “But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state.” Paul was in a cold, damp prison cell when he penned these words and his foremost thought was the well-being of the brethren in the Philippian church.

When you become your brothers’ keeper you need to show interest in others no matter what’s going on in your own life. Too many people talk about their problems all the time. Everybody has problems! Love is not selfish and love does not talk about problems. Love asks people how they’re doing without telling them what’s wrong in your life.

In Phil. 2:3,4 we read, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others.” This is the highest form of love there is and this is what it means to be your brother’ keeper.

The Message? Bible says, “Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.”

Paul encouraged the church at Rome to “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another” Rom. 12:10.

The NIV? Bible states, “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Love will esteem others better than yourself and will show preference to their wants, needs, and desires.

This doesn’t mean other people are better than you, but you act like they are. If you esteem them you will give them preference. You will serve them and give of yourselves to them. This is the heart of the Master. This is Christianity!

Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom to many”

Mark 10:45. 2 Cor. 5:15 tells us, “and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

Jesus also said in Matt. 10:38, “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”

Friendships just don’t happen on their own.They are cultivated or worked on.

God sees everything through the eyes of love.

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