Jeremiah 31:31-34
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
“It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.
“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their mind and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.
No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord.
Reflection
The change of a calendar often brings with it a new sense of hope. This year, we think, things will be different. This year our situation will change. This year we will get that job we have longed for.
But when it comes to the human condition, we need more than the change of a calendar to give us hope. The Bible makes clear that the brokenness we experience in this world is not just a problem brought on by circumstances outside ourselves. Every one of us has a sin problem. We have hearts that take us away from God. We prefer to live our own way instead of following God’s way for full, abundant living. We do not honour God’s commands.
Sin has a way of sinking its teeth deep into our hearts. Childhood temper tantrums may morph into the sophisticated road rage of an adult, but the same sinful anger underlies both behaviours. We need more than simple maturity. We need a new heart. We need a new hope.
Long ago God promised that his people would one day know him, deep down in their hearts. By God’s power they would understand how he called them to live. By sending Jesus into the world, God fulfilled that promise.
Jesus shows us how to live, and his Spirit now guides our hearts. Do you have the new hope that comes from knowing Christ?
A new heart, a new hope—what a promise, Lord! Set within us hearts that know you and serve you, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Lord of life, the accompanier of all journeys, help us to make you known in a gentle word, a welcoming smile, an open hand, a comforting touch, until we find ourselves in that place of many mansions.
Amen.
Abba, Father, let me be Abba, Father, Let Me Be [with lyrics for congregations] – YouTube
I cannot tell how he whom angels worship https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh0RKetMB0o Just As I Am https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0XjqRZ9W_8
