Jonah: Covenant

“For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” Rom. 14:7-8

Now this is presumptuous, isn’t it?

*******

“God, this is Jonah. You’re making a few assumptions, here, aren’t you?”

“No, Jonah, I’m not. You are.”

“I didn’t write this, God. I’m just reading it. If I understand, it says that none of us lives to himself alone or dies to himself alone. That’s simply not true in this world.”

“For those who do not know My Son, your understanding appears accurate; and for those who don’t know Me your understanding appears very accurate. But things are not always as they appear, Jonah.”

“So I’m learning. Tell me how it’s true for those who don’t know You or Your Son.”

“Even the most stringent recluse had a mother and father. Even the most passive, unobtrusive person to ever walk the earth breathed the air and changed it for their presence in it. The infant who is stillborn has impacted at least one other person with their nonexistence. The homeless, nameless corpse that is found rotting in the subways of a city has impacted at least one other life in some way. No one lives and dies to themselves alone.”

“We’re about to solve that problem.”

“And how’s that, Jonah?”

“Well, with manufactured children created in test tubes and raised in laboratories....”

“And who will do this, Jonah?”

“Scientists and profiteers, God. Most of whom will have taken Your place in the scheme of things.”

“And they will not be affected by the outcome of their attempts to be Me?”

“Well, sure they will. No one likes to be a failure.”

“In fact, they will care very much about each fetus they attempt to produce and will dote on it as most parents only wish they could. For the wrong reasons, maybe, but the impact will still occur. None of them will live and die to themselves alone.”

“So, as long as there is one other person in this world...”

“In the most realistic sense that you can understand, no one live and dies to themselves alone. But there is more, Jonah.”

*******

So we are all, in a practical and tangible way, in relationship and impacting each others’ lives. But I think God has a little deeper meaning to all this. Don’t you?

*******

“Now, about the second part of that statement, certainly that isn’t true. I know a ton of people who simply disavow your existence. They certainly don’t live and die to You, God.”

“Once again, Jonah, your observations are accurate but your understanding is faulty.”

“Why did I know that, God?”

“Because you’re beginning to listen?”

“Nice, a God who asks me questions. You know I don’t need this, God.”

“Yes you do, Jonah. You just don’t know it yet. Now, for your faulty understanding. This is a covenant, Jonah. Part of the original covenant that I made when I created you. It is not something that is a choice on your part. It’s a statement of fact. As my children I loved you then and I love you now; fallen or reconciled, I love you.”

“And...?”

“And that means that when you live, you live to Me and when you die, you die to Me. Like it or not, you have impacted Me with your existence. That’s why Paul included the last sentence of the quote: ‘So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.’.”

“Wow...never thought about it that way.”

“Oh, there’s more, Jonah.”

*******

The hard part is acknowledging the truth of a covenant without saying if it is true ‘for us’ or not. We are not use to having a Lord of our lives outside of our own head. We are not accustomed to hearing that a covenant may be absolute without our consent. Now that’s going to take a minute......

*******

“All right, Jonah, your minute is up.”

“Right, so what’s the more part, God?”

“That you are never alone and you are never unloved, whether you love Me or not. You will always be My beloved.”