Gerhard Tersteegen's Covenant of Love

It was just the day before Good Friday, known as “Green Thursday,” that the twenty-seven-year-old seeker entered into an enlarged place, the cries and entreaties of the past years being abundantly answered. He came to realize that the life of crucifixion with Christ was not to be one he could learn by instruction save by that of the Holy Spirit. He says: “It is a small thing with Him to cause us to find in our souls in one moment without trouble, that which we may have sought externally for years with much labor.”

The long night of darkness and uncertainty was past. While journeying to another city, the Savior, as the all-sufficient One, appeared to the young man and rose upon his horizon like the day-star from on high. He continues, “It was as if a sick child were alone and far away in the dark night, when suddenly the door was opened, and father and mother and all the loved ones came in, and the long, lonely hours were over, and all was love.”

There by the roadside, Tersteegen dedicated himself to the Lord. He was lifted on to a new plane where God was henceforth the One and only Good. He had learned that “Jesus alone is sufficient, but yet insufficient, when He is not wholly and solely embraced.” Returning from his journey, he sat down in the quiet of his own room and wrote out the following covenant of love with blood drawn from his own veins:

My Jesus, I own myself to be Thine, my only Savior and Bridegroom. Christ Jesus, I am Thine wholly and eternally. From this evening onward, I renounce from my heart all right and authority that Satan unrighteously gave me over myself. From this evening—the evening on which Thou, my Bridegroom, through Thy precious blood, didst purchase me for Thyself, agonizing even unto death, praying till Thy sweat was as it were blood falling to the ground, that I might be Thy treasure and Thy bride—Thou hast burst the gates of hell and opened to me the loving heart of the Father! From this evening onward my heart and all my love are offered up to Thee in eternal thankfulness. 

From this evening, to all eternity, Thy will, not mine, be done! Command and rule and reign in me. I yield myself up without reserve, and I promise, with Thy help and power, rather to give up the last drop of this my blood than knowingly and willingly, in my heart or in my life, be untrue or disobedient to Thee. Behold, Thou hast me wholly and completely, sweet Friend of my soul. Thou hast the love of my heart for Thyself, and for none other. Thy Spirit be my keeper; Thy death the rock of my assurance. Yea, Amen! May Thy Spirit seal that which is written in the simplicity of my heart. Thine unworthy possession, Gerhard Tersteegen. Anno Domini 1724, Green Thursday. 

From Recluse in Demand, Life and Letters of Gerhard Tersteegen