Overview of: JeremiahToday's Reading:
Jer. 31:12-15, 23-34
"Restoration and a Better Covenant"
Focus Verses: Jer. 31:33-34
33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
Insight:
Though the destruction of Jerusalem was imminent, God promised that there would eventually be a day of restoration. The people had broken their covenant with God, but God promised that he would ultimately establish a better covenant. Instead of a written law, God would work within the hearts and minds of his people. Through Christ Jesus, we have forgiveness and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Instead of mere external rules, God's people now have the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead indwelling their mortal bodies (Rom. 8:9-11).
Response and Action:
I want my heart and mind to be shaped and guided by the Spirit of God. More than being restrained by rules and regulations, I want the desires of my heart and the attitudes of my mind to be consistent with what God wants. By God's transforming power, my wants and actions can be so aligned with God's will, that rules and regulations are not necessary.
O God, write your law on my heart and mind. Shape my will into conformity with yours. By the power and grace of your Holy Spirit, lead, teach, transform, shape, and strengthen me, that I might delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Through Christ, I pray. Amen.
Proverb for Today: Prov. 18:15
"The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of the wise seek it out."
New Testament for Today: Hebrews 10:15-22
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." 17 Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." 18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
Recommended Reading:
Desiring God's Will: Aligning Our Hearts With The Heart Of God
by David G. Benner
