Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NRSV)
Read Jeremiah 31:31-34 on biblegateway.com
Verse 31The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Verse 32It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt-a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. Verse 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Verse 34No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the Lord," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
Devotion
After 22 years of marriage, much of it “troubled,” divorce was looming on the horizon. “I don’t believe in this, Lord,” I prayed. “I made promises … better or worse. Please heal this brokenness.” And God did. In spite of the sin of divorce, in spite of a broken human covenant, I came to know, deeply, that I was forgiven—freed from guilt—and that new life was possible. Through Jeremiah’s words we get a picture of an intimate, secure, firsthand knowledge of God. Perhaps the fullness of this new-covenant knowing is “not yet” present for us on earth. But sometimes, in Christ, we get glimpses of it “already.” Our graceful God gives us touchstones of hope and anticipation.
Prayer
My heart thirsts for you, Lord, and yet my guilt holds me back. Thank you for freeing me and bringing me to you. Amen.