Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Psalm 105:1-4, 6-9
Matthew 7:15-20
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I'M TORN IN TWO FOR YOU
"[Abram] split them in two, and placed each half opposite the other." —Genesis 15:10
In the Old Testament, a covenant ceremony involved killing an animal and cutting it into two pieces. Both parties of the covenant then walked between the two halves of the animal. This walk guaranteed the vow to be faithful to the terms of the covenant: If I break the covenant, may I be split in two like these animal parts between which I walk (see Jer 34:18).
God made a covenant with Abram to provide him with many descendants (Gn 15:1-5). He had Abram cut up several animals and place “each half opposite the other” (Gn 15:10). In the form of a “smoking brazier and a flaming torch...[God] passed between those pieces. It was on that occasion that the Lord made a covenant with Abram” (Gn 15:17-18). God promised to Abram that He would be split in two if He should fail to keep His terms of the covenant.
In a Church wedding, the bride makes a covenant to be faithful to her husband by walking down the center aisle, between his family and hers. The Israelites walked between the two walls of the Red Sea to receive their freedom to be the People of God (Ex 14:22). Do you feel like you are walking between a rock and a hard place? Could that be part of the price to pay for being faithful to your Baptismal and Eucharistic covenants with God?
God is serious about keeping covenants. He gave His life for us, and He asks us to do the same. Beg the Lord for the grace to be faithful to your covenants.
Prayer: Lord, You risked everything to covenant to me. May I always be whole in You rather than torn apart by leaving You.
Promise: "Throughout the earth [God's] judgments prevail." —Ps 105:7
Praise: St. Irenaeus, a Second Century bishop, used his wisdom to combat the heresy of Gnosticism.
(This teaching was submitted by a member of our editorial team.)
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