Covenants And Signs

Genesis 9:8-15

1 Peter 3:18-22

Mark 1:12-15

Divine Inspiration

God made a covenant – a promise – to Noah that never again would life on earth be destroyed.  And, after He made that promise, God gave Noah a sign of his promise – his bow set in the clouds, so that Noah could see it when the clouds rolled in.  There were two key things here:  God’s promise and God’s sign.  At what other time have we received a promise from God?  It’s when Jesus says, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’  And the sign he gives us is his rising from the cross; once again, a very powerful covenant along with a sign of that promise.  However, at times, it can be difficult to remember this promise of Jesus.  We can feel so alone, so in the dark, that if we do remember, we may not truly believe.

Lent is a time to renew our belief and faith in Christ Jesus.  It is a time of self-reflection, of quiet.  It can even seem dark.  We are meant to pray, to connect as deeply with God as we humanly can.  I’m not talking about the typical prayers we say on a daily basis, but to actually ask Christ to fill our hearts, and then be quiet and observe the fullness that follows.  That fullness that we will feel is a sign that God is with us.  In fact, there are many signs of Christ’s promise to us.  We’ll see them if we just quiet ourselves and observe.

I was walking into my building at work after lunch last week, and among the winter flowers – all the lovely yellow and purple pansies, was a single red tulip about to open.  And, I was so busy walking and thinking about stuff I needed to do, that I almost missed it.  Fortunately, I didn’t.  I stopped, looked at it, and thanked God for sharing that sign with me.  It could have been a sign of the coming Spring or a sign that I wasn’t alone.  The specifics aren’t as important as the fact that it was a sign from Christ and I felt that love and fullness as a result.

I guess the point of all this is to remember that God and Jesus have made us promises – covenants – and that they give us signs of those promises every single day.  We just have to be quiet, watch for them and let them fill us with His love.

Amen.

Readings and Divine Inspiration from Sunday, February 22, 2015