The House in the Middle of the Forest: The Choice of Covenant-PART I

Welcome back to Pomoja Podcast, a ministry of

life of Christ International Ministries. Pomoja

means together, and that's exactly what this

space is about. The place where stronger lives

are built, faith is strengthened, hearts are

encouraged, and Christ -centered homes are shaped

through ordinary conversations that become extraordinary

encounters with God's truth. One conversation,

one story, one revelation at a time. Thank you

for joining me for another powerful conversation.

During our last conversation, we stayed in the

forest. We discovered that before God entrusts

us with a covenant, He prepares us for it. We

learned that throughout scripture, God has never

been in a hurry. He prepares Noah before the

flood, Abraham before the promise, Joseph before

the palace, David before the throne. Even Jesus

spent years in preparation before beginning his

public ministry. Preparation has always been

part of God's pattern. But today, our journey

through the forest finally brings us to the house.

And as I continued reflecting on my father's

story, Another question began to stir in my heart.

A question I had never asked before. Why did

the man decide to enter? He could have admired

the house and continued walking. He could have

appreciated what he saw without becoming part

of it. He could have stood outside for the rest

of his life, but he didn't. He chose to enter.

The more I prayed about that simple detail, The

more I realized, my father wasn't only telling

a story about marriage. He was revealing the

nature of every covenant. Let's go back to the

beginning. Imagine yourself walking through that

forest. You've been walking for a long time.

The trees are everywhere. The path seems endless.

Then suddenly, through the branches, you see

a house. Not just any house. A beautiful house.

A peaceful house. A house that seems completely

out of place in the middle of the wilderness.

Naturally, you move closer. And that's when you

notice something even more beautiful. Through

the windows, you see a husband and a wife. They're

not arguing. They're not pretending. They're

simply enjoying one another. They're talking,

laughing, smiling. There is peace in that house.

There is joy. There is love. Think about that

for a moment. The man wasn't attracted by the

architecture. He was attracted by the life inside.

That changed the way I see this story. Because

people are rarely transformed by buildings. They're

transformed by what they witness inside them.

That's true in marriage. It's true in the church.

And it's true in the Christian life. People may

admire our buildings. They may appreciate our

worship. They may respect our traditions. But

what truly captures their attention is seeing

lives that have been transformed by Jesus Christ.

The greatest testimony of a Christian marriage

isn't a perfect wedding album. It isn't expensive

rings. It isn't a beautiful house. It's the quiet

evidence that two imperfect people have learned

to love one another. with the love of Christ.

That's what the man saw, not perfection, peace,

not performance, joy, not appearances, love,

and it made him want what they had. As I reflected

on this, I couldn't help but thank God for the

couples he placed in my own life, men and women

who probably never realized that someone was

watching them. Watching the way they spoke to

each other, the way they prayed together, the

way they endured difficult seasons, the way they

remained faithful, whether they knew it or not.

They became houses in the middle of the forest,

lights for those of us who were still walking.

Never underestimate what your marriage may be

saying to someone else. There may be a young

man. who has never seen a godly husband. There

may be a young woman who has never witnessed

what biblical love looks like. There may be a

child whose understanding of God will be shaped

by what he first sees between his father and

his mother. Your marriage may be introducing

someone to the beauty of God's design long before

they ever open a Bible and perhaps That's exactly

what Jesus meant when he said, let your light

shine before others so that they may see your

good works and give glory to your Father who

is in heaven. Sometimes that light shines from

a pulpit. Sometimes it shines from a mission

field. And sometimes it shines from something

as ordinary and as extraordinary as a husband

and wife. faithfully loving one another. Because

every healthy Christ -centered marriage becomes

a living invitation. An invitation that quietly

says, come and see what God can build. But there

is something else, something even deeper, that

the man saw through those windows. He didn't

simply see love. He saw God's design. and that

changes everything. There was something else,

something I had overlooked for many years. When

the visitor looked through those windows, he

didn't simply see love. He saw God's design.

That may sound like a small detail, but it's

actually one of the greatest revelations hidden

in my father's story. The man didn't see two

people trying to invent marriage. He saw a husband.

A wife, a home, a family, without saying a single

word. My father had already taken us back to

the Garden of Eden. Because that's where every

conversation about marriage must begin. Not with

our experiences, not with our opinions, not with

our culture, but with God. Every manufacturer

writes an owner's manual for what he creates.

The inventor understands the purpose of his invention

better than anyone else. If I buy a new vehicle,

I don't call my neighbor to find out how the

engine was designed to operate. I read the manual

written by the manufacturer. Why? Because the

creator always understands the creation better

than the user. Marriage is no different. If God

created marriage, then only God has the authority

to define it. Not because He wants to control

us, but because He understands what He created.

That is why the Bible doesn't introduce marriage

in a courtroom, or in a church building, or in

a palace. Marriage begins in a garden, long before

there were nations, before there were governments,

before there were cultures, before there were

denominations. before traditions, before customs,

there was God, and there was Eden. Genesis tells

us that after creating Adam, God declared, it

is not good that the man should be alone. I will

make him a helper fit for him. For the first

time in creation, God looked at something and

said, it is not good. Not because Adam lacked

purpose, not because he lacked God. not because

he lacked work. Adam had all of those things.

He walked with God. He had meaningful responsibility.

He lived in a perfect environment, yet something

was still incomplete. Then God created Eve. Notice

something beautiful. Adam didn't search the world

looking for a wife. God brought Eve to him. Marriage

was never Adam's invention. It was God's gift.

God performed the first wedding. God became the

first father, giving away his daughter. Adam

became the first husband. Eve became the first

wife. And heaven witnessed the first covenant.

That tells me something profound. Marriage is

not merely a social contract. It is a divine

institution. It existed before any human institution

ever existed. Which means... Marriage doesn't

belong to society. It belongs to God. And because

it belongs to God, its meaning can never be determined

by public opinion. Opinions change. Cultures

change. Governments change. Generations change.

But the creator does not. God's design has never

depended on whether it is popular. Truth has

never needed a majority vote. Now. There is another

reason I believe my father described a husband

and a wife sitting inside that house He wasn't

trying to make a political statement. He wasn't

trying to win an argument He was simply describing

what God established in the beginning Sometimes

we spend so much time debating marriage that

we forget to admire it Marriage was God's first

picture of covenant before Israel before the

church, before pastors, before apostles, before

kings. God gave humanity, a home, a husband,

a wife, and a covenant. Everything else in scripture

begins to build upon that foundation. Then, centuries

later, the apostle Paul writes something extraordinary

in Ephesians chapter 5. After speaking about

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

husbands loving their wives and wives respecting

their husbands, He suddenly says, this mystery

is profound and I am saying that it refers to

Christ and the church. Did you catch that? Paul

says marriage has always been pointing beyond

itself. A husband's love is meant to reflect

Christ's love for his church. A wife's devotion

reflects the church's response to Christ. Marriage

is not only about two people learning to love

each other. It is also a living picture. of the

gospel itself. That means every healthy Christian

marriage quietly tells a greater story. It announces

that Christ loves his people, that he is faithful,

that he forgives, that he remains committed,

even when the journey becomes difficult. And

perhaps that's why the visitor stopped walking.

He wasn't simply looking at a happy couple without

realizing it. He was catching a glimpse of the

heart of God. But even after seeing all of that,

the man still had one decision to make. Seeing

the house was not enough. Admiring the covenant

was not enough. At some point, he had to decide,

would he remain outside or would he enter? Because

every covenant, whether marriage or salvation,

begins with one simple word, yes. Now the story

reaches its defining moment. The man has finished

the journey. The house is before him. He has

seen the beauty inside. He has witnessed peace.

He has witnessed love. He has discovered God's

witnessed love. He has discovered God's design.

But none of those things made the decision for

him. He still had a choice. He could turn around.

He could continue walking. He could spend the

rest of his life remembering the beautiful house

he once discovered in the middle of the forest,

or he could enter. As simple as that moment appears,

it may be the greatest lesson hidden in my father's

story, because every covenant God establishes

begins exactly the same way, with an invitation

and with a choice. One of the things I admire

most about God is that he has never forced himself

upon anyone. Think about it. When God called

Noah, Noah could have refused. When God called

Abraham to leave his father's house, Abraham

could have stayed. When Joshua stood before Israel

and declared, choose this day whom you will serve,

the people had a decision to make. When Elijah

stood on Mount Carmel and asked, How long will

you waver between two opinions? Israel had to

choose. When Ruth looked at Naomi and said, your

people shall be my people and your God, my God,

she entered a covenant by choice. Jesus himself

walked along the shores of Galilee and simply

said, follow me. He never dragged anyone behind

him. He invited them. Some followed, others walked

away. Even the rich young ruler whom Jesus loved

was allowed to leave. That tells us something

beautiful about the heart of God. Love never

forces. Love invites. Because forced obedience

is not love. Compel commitment is not covenant.

True covenant always begins with a willing heart.

As I reflected on that, I suddenly realized something

astonishing. The man in my father's story didn't

simply enter a house, he accepted an invitation.

And isn't that exactly what salvation is? Jesus

said in Revelation, Behold I stand at the door

and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens

the door, I will come into him and eat with him

and he with me. I love that picture. Jesus doesn't

break the door down. He doesn't force his way

inside. He knocks. He waits. He invites. The

decision belongs to us. Do you see the beauty

of the connection? In my father's story, the

man opens a door to enter the house. In the gospel,

we open the door of our hearts to welcome Christ.

One begins a marriage. The other begins eternal

life. Both begin with trust. Both begin with

surrender. Both begin with saying, yes, I think

many people misunderstand salvation. They see

it as the finish line. The Bible presents it

as the starting line. The day you receive Christ

is not the day your journey ends. It is the day

your journey begins. Just as standing at an altar

doesn't instantly make someone a mature husband

or a mature wife, receiving Jesus doesn't instantly

make us spiritually mature. The covenant begins

immediately. The transformation unfolds over

a lifetime. Marriage teaches us how to love.

Discipleship teaches us how to become like Christ.

Marriage requires faithfulness. Discipleship

requires faithfulness. Marriage calls us to die

to ourselves. Take up his cross daily and follow

me. Do you see the pattern? God has always been

more interested in relationships than rituals,

more interested in covenant than ceremonies,

more interested in transformed hearts than outward

appearances. The wedding is beautiful, baptism

is beautiful, but neither is the destination.

They are both declarations that a journey has

begun. Perhaps someone listening today finds

themselves exactly where the man stood. You've

seen the house. You've admired what God can do.

Maybe you've watched faithful Christian marriages.

Maybe you've seen the peace Christ has brought

into someone else's life. You've been inspired,

encouraged, even convinced, but you've never

entered. You've remained outside, close enough

to admire. but never close enough to belong.

Can I lovingly tell you something? Admiration

has never transformed anyone. You can admire

Jesus without following him. You can respect

his teachings without surrendering your life

to him. You can believe he existed and still

never know him personally. There comes a moment

when every admirer must become a participant.

Every observer must become a disciple. Every

invitation awaits a response. Maybe today, God

is extending that invitation to you. Not into

a religion, not into an institution, not into

a list of rules, but into a covenant, into a

relationship with His Son. Just as the visitor

reached for the door of that house, you can reach

for Christ today. Not because you understand

everything, none of us did. Not because you have

everything figured out, none of us do. But because

you've come to trust the one who is inviting

you. One decision changed the course of that

man's story. One yes to Jesus changes the course

of eternity.