Deuteronomy 26: A Promise Keeping God

The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have declared this day that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him.  And the LORD has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised. -Deut. 26:16-19 NIV

It's so easy to forget that we are in a covenant relationship with The Lord; to forget that there are vows taken by each side that must be forever remain in place.  That means that we are bound to God, we cannot come and go as we please.  We cannot choose to obey only part of his commands.  We are wholly his, just as a bride is wholly her husband's, we are God's treasured possession.  We have made a promise to be faithful and that covenant cannot be broken

On the other side,  God belongs to us.  We have his promise, his everlasting commitment to us.   Nothing can change that.  He is a never changing, ever faithful God.  It is no wonder that marriage is used to describe the believers relationship with God, and vice versa.  It's hard for us to understand that in these days when divorce comes so easily, when friendships are dependent upon what we get out of the relationship, and when even family ties no longer hold people together.  While commitment may not mean much to most of us, it is still important to God.  In fact, it is the  very core of his being.  While all around us, relationships crumble, he is faithful, he will always be.  He is a promise keeping God.