“Look unto Abraham…and Sarah”

After reminding Israel that God has not abandoned them (Isaiah 50, 2 Nephi 7), the prophet Isaiah invites them to look back to their roots. “Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged” (Isaiah 51:1, 2 Nephi 8:1). Specifically, he wants them to look to their ancestors and remember the covenant God made with them:

Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.

Isaiah 51:2, 2 Nephi 8:2

President Russell M. Nelson has pointed out that references to “the fathers” in the scriptures include the ancient patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So when Malachi later prophesied that the hearts of the children would be turned to their fathers, he was referring not only to our direct ancestors but also to our spiritual ancestors. As we enter covenants with God, we inherit the promises God made with Abraham and Sarah. That’s why the apostle Paul wrote that those who have been baptized are “Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:27–29). That’s also why God said to Joseph Smith, “This promise is yours also, because ye are of Abraham, and the promise was made unto Abraham” (Doctrine and Covenants 132:31).

Peter called the Jews in Jerusalem “the children…of the covenant” (Acts 3:25), and Jesus Christ made the same declaration to the people gathered at the temple in Bountiful on the American continent. (See 3 Nephi 20:25–26.)

President Nelson explained, “Those who keep their covenants with God will become a strain of sin-resistant souls! Those who keep their covenants will have the strength to resist the constant influence of the world” (“The Everlasting Covenant,” Liahona, October 2022). By making and keeping covenants with God, we inherit the blessings He promised to the ancient patriarchs and matriarchs, and we enter a similar relationship with Him. In that way, we become children of the covenant.

Today, I will remember the relationship Abraham and Sarah had with God. I will be grateful for the covenants I have been privileged to make with God, and I will look for opportunities to help others make covenants with Him and value those covenants.