Title: If you Remain in the Covenant I ....

2 Chronicles 7:16-22

“For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.  

And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments;  

Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.  

But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;  

Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.  

And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house?  

And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.”

When Solomon finished the temple, God appeared and renewed His covenant with Israel. The promise was clear: if the people walked in obedience, God’s presence, blessing, and dynasty would remain. If they turned away to other gods, judgment would follow—the land would be uprooted, the temple cast out of His sight, and the nation become a byword among the nations.

That same covenant pattern reaches us. The day we surrender our lives to Christ, God enters into a living covenant with us. We become His dwelling place by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), and He pledges His presence, care, and keeping. Jesus Himself said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me” (John 15:4). Our part is to remain—walking before Him, keeping His word, refusing other gods.

Yet the warning stands. Turning away, drifting into compromise, or looking back with longing for the old life breaks the fellowship of that covenant. Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt because she looked back (Genesis 19:26; Luke 17:32). The writer of Hebrews urges us, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12). God remains faithful to His side of the covenant; the question is whether we will remain faithful to ours.

So stay. Do not look back. Do not trade the presence of the living God for the empty gods of this age. Keep walking before Him as David walked. He who began a good work in you is able to complete it—if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel (Colossians 1:23).

Lord, keep our hearts fixed on You. Guard us from drifting. Help us abide in Christ daily, that Your name may remain in us and Your eyes and heart rest upon us forever. Amen.

See that you remain Christ, share this with your contacts.©Dr Joel Olanrewaju gbemide09@gmail.com.