Nehemiah 10

In this passage, the details of the Israelites' renewed Covenant with God were provided.  First, those who sealed the covenant are listed:  Nehemiah the governor or civil leader; the priests and Levites or spiritual leaders; and the leaders of the people or heads of families.

Then people separated themselves and took an oath with a curse "to follow the Law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord".

Specifically, they pledged obedience in the following areas:

• PERSONAL - Being set apart (no foreign marriages)
• BUSINESS - Honoring the Sabbath (not working on the Sabbath day) and the Year of Jubilee (forgiving debts)
• SPIRITUAL - Giving offerings so that they would "not neglect the house of our at God"

Of all the commands they could've chosen to specify in the covenant, these were most likely included because they were areas in which they had been disobedient, and were now taking actions to commit to obey through renewing their Covenant.

If I were to renew my covenant with God and put it in writing to be sealed, I would commit to Love God and to Love Others; and I would pledge that my faithful service would be a fragrant offering to Him.

28-Oct:   As I was thinking about why it was important to renew the covenant, I realized that at the core, it's really about their relationship with God.  It was not so much about obeying the laws and commands, even though those are a reflection of Who God IS.   But, when they disobeyed, it was likened to adultery, like breaking the marriage covenant.  Renewing the covenant is like renewing marriage vows - reaffirming that most intimate of relationships.