“The covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven”
Daily Scripture
Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:6-7, 9:11-15
Jeremiah 31
31 The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 It won’t be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant with me even though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 No, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my Instructions within them and engrave them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 They will no longer need to teach each other to say, “Know the Lord!” because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord; for I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sins.
Hebrews 8
6 But now, Jesus has received a superior priestly service just as he arranged a better covenant that is enacted with better promises.
7 If the first covenant had been without fault, it wouldn’t have made sense to expect a second. 8 But God did find fault with them, since he says,
Look, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a covenant with the house of Israel,
and I will make a new covenant with the house of Judah [Jeremiah 31].
Hebrews 9
11 But Christ has appeared as the high priest of the good things that have happened. He passed through the greater and more perfect meeting tent, which isn’t made by human hands (that is, it’s not a part of this world). 12 He entered the holy of holies once for all by his own blood, not by the blood of goats or calves, securing our deliverance for all time. 13 If the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkled ashes of cows made spiritually contaminated people holy and clean, 14 how much more will the blood of Jesus wash our consciences clean from dead works in order to serve the living God? He offered himself to God through the eternal Spirit as a sacrifice without any flaw.
15 This is why he’s the mediator of a new covenant (which is a will): so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance on the basis of his death. His death occurred to set them free from the offenses committed under the first covenant.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Wesley’s prayer ends by recognizing that responding to God’s offer of a covenant relationship with you takes more than a casual, intellectual assent. We all know we will at times struggle to completely live out what God wants, but “the covenant I have made on earth” is a way of saying that I take this seriously, that I am genuine in making this commitment. Asking that it “be ratified in heaven” accepts that the commitment comes, not from someone apt to have a change of heart at any time, but from the eternal God who has always sought deep connection with his beloved created creatures. And “Amen” isn’t just a trivial verbal punctuation mark. “‘Amen’ means, ‘Yes, indeed!’ or ‘Surely . . . in very truth!’” * The final phrase of Wesley’s prayer is a sacred oath in God’s presence, a promise to God that you are determined to live out what you have just prayed.
- What does God ask when you enter covenant relationship? Jesus summarized the central commitment beautifully in Matthew 22:34-40—loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and loving your neighbor as yourself. Spend time in prayer today, talking with God about the challenges these great commandments pose for you and the ways you need God’s help to live out your covenant promise.
- Members of Resurrection’s Worship Collective composed and perform ‘I Am Yours,’ a Covenant Song that beautifully expresses this commitment. (You can click here to find it.) As you listen or sing along, make it your own prayer of covenant renewal.
Prayer
God, Lord of my life, by the Holy Spirit’s presence give me power to live out this prayer daily. Grant me seriousness of purpose that produces your overflowing love and joy expressed toward everyone I encounter. Amen.
GPS Insights
Angie McCarty
Angie McCarty, who serves as the location pastor for Resurrection Spring Hill, wrote today's Insights. Angie is an ordained elder from the Desert Southwest Conference of the United Methodist Church who moved to Kansas from Arizona in 2017. She completed her doctorate degree, focusing on Christian sexual ethics, at Saint Paul School of Theology in May 2023. Angie is married to Jonathan Bell, who also serves on staff at Resurrection. Together they have six kids, a live-in sister who is active in Matthew’s Ministry, and a totally joyful life.
There are several reasons I am a United Methodist, a big one being that I was born to parents who attend a United Methodist Church. When I was old enough to think about what I believed about spirituality and faith, I dabbled in the Baptist church and the Mormon church. As we know, Methodism finds itself in the middle of many spectrums, this one included.
One of the pieces of our tradition that challenges me the most is the Wesleyan Covenant Prayer. This year, I hope to commit this prayer to memory…my memory isn’t so great, so it might take all year. If we truly hope to commit to living this prayer, we ought to be a little frightened. Do you realize what we’re praying when we adopt this prayer as our own? Let’s read it in modern language (as edited by ChatGPT):
I am no longer my own, but yours.
Do with me what you choose; place me where you want.
Put me to work or allow me to rest.
Let me serve you through action or through suffering.
Use me for your purposes or set me aside.
Lift me up for you or humble me for you.
Let me have plenty or let me have little.
Let me have everything or nothing at all.
I freely and wholeheartedly surrender everything
to your will and your care.
And now, glorious and blessed God—
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—
you are mine, and I am yours. So be it.
May the covenant I make here on earth
be confirmed in heaven. Amen.
I don’t know about you, but some of those lines are rather difficult to swallow. Rather than “Place me where you want,” I’d like to pray, “I’ll go anywhere for you as long as I like the climate.” Straight up, I want to pray to avoid suffering at all costs and to always have enough. Having “nothing at all” shakes me to the core.
I don’t want to work to memorize this prayer and live it if I’m dreading the consequences. I hope to be authentic in my prayers, this one included. Would you join me in memorizing this prayer in 2026? Will you join me in living this prayer in 2026? When this prayer becomes our own, there’s no telling what God can do with our lives.
Happy new year, friends.
© 2026 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Folmsbee, Chris, The Wesley Prayer Challenge Participant Book (p. 137). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.
