Jenn was sharing some deep thoughts with me yesterday as we were driving to small group.  The reading for small group had mentioned how the Israelites would annually renew their covenant with God every year.  In the past, we’ve sometimes foudn it difficult to identify with why people renew covenants so systematically.  It feels ritualized, and almost not really needed if the first covenant act was truly “real.”  But the exciting articulation and understanding discovered by Jenn was that covenants with God are living covenants.  Everyday we have the choice to renew our covenant, our relationship, our love, our commitment, our promises, and our joy of knowing, depending and looking to God.  It’s the same thing with marriage too.  Like, we could just say our vows with all the heart felt emotion possible at the altar and leave it at that, but everyday, in every interaction with each other, we are given the opportunity to renew those vows, that covenant to each other.  There is so much new life born out of the renewing of covenants and promises.  The covenants and promises can grow in breadth and depth as we grow too!  Its like in my commitment to my friends, my commitment to them will manifest itself differently as we live through different seasons of our lives.  There will be times when I am needed by friends for this and other times where I will be needed by friends for that.  Sometimes we will fail each other, but that just leaves room for the commitment to strengthen.  This view of covenants as being living, able to grow, morph, and adapt is exciting to me.