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
The heart’s journey is a pronounced theme of this week of Lenten readings. “The days are surely coming” sets our eyes on the horizon of the Lenten pathway. Culminating the trek is a new covenant. But remember: In liturgical time, we’ve only heard about this covenant. We’ve not yet witnessed it come to fruition. Thus, we journey with anticipation for something coming—expectant, longing, hoping-against-hope.
It is a covenant of good news! From the least to the greatest, all will know the Holy One, whose law will be written within, on our hearts. A deep belonging bestowed, with God and with one another as our lives are bound up in the life of God. Forgiveness, restoration. This is the good news spoken by the prophet Jeremiah. But at the outset of this week on the Lenten journey, these are words of something to come. So, we travel on with longing hearts.
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Prayer
Holy One, we long to know you more. Journey with us into the unknown pathways of our lives, and through this Lenten season, for we know something truly good is coming. We trek toward you with longing hearts. Amen.