Hesed: God's Loyalty

Let me guess... you're wondering what that first word in the title was! No, it's not English, or a typo. It's a Hebrew word I learned about at church today. As with a lot of Hebrew words, it can't really be narrowed down to one meaning. Some include: loyalty, loving-kindness, mercy, and love. But in the sermon I just heard, loyalty was the key definition. According to dictionary.com one of the definitions of loyalty is "the state or quality of being loyal; faithfulness to commitments or obligations." I think another word the speaker used was covenant: "an agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not do something specified." Another word for covenant is testament. Think of it this way- we are in a covenant with God. So because of this loyalty he's shown to us, we are obliged to return it- even in the face of disappointments, adversity, and persecution. When we start getting resistance while sharing our beliefs, it is often all too easy to back down and say, "Oh well, that's not really that important to me anyway." That's not how a COVENANT is supposed to work, though. It doesn't say to do or not do something specified when it's convenient, or when things are going well for you. No. It says to obey, period. Nothing else. I'm admittedly really tired today, and I'm pretty impressed with myself for remembering this much of the sermon. But I guess the takeaway would be, that in the inevitable hardships that are in our future, we are not to back down. Remember the covenant promise, God's hesed love, and to return that to him always.