New life, new hope, new joy
Jeremiah 31:31-34 NLT
“The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord. “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”
Warren Wiersbe
Any plan for the betterment of human society that ignores the sin problem is destined to failure. It isn’t enough to change the environment, for the heart of every problem is the problem of the heart. God must change the hearts of people so that they want to love Him and do His will. That’s why He announced a New Covenant to replace the Old Covenant under which the Jews had lived since the days of Moses, a covenant that could direct their conduct but not change their character. But the New Covenant isn’t just another renewal of the Old Covenant that God gave at Sinai; it’s a covenant that’s new in every way. The New Covenant is inward so that God’s Law is written on the heart and not on stone tablets. The emphasis is personal rather than national, with each person putting faith in the Lord and receiving a “new heart” and with it a new disposition toward godliness. The Old Covenant tried to control conduct, but the New Covenant changes character so that people can love the Lord and one another and want to obey God’s will. The basis for the New Covenant is the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Because the church today partakes in Israel’s spiritual riches, anyone who puts faith in Jesus Christ shares in this New Covenant. It’s an experience of regeneration, being “born again” into the family of God.
Glory, Glory, Glory to the Newborn King
https://youtu.be/syclGvY9syc?si=A6pOmcgayRouP975
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
ONLINE ADVENT CALENDAR
Joy for every December day! This online Advent calendar provides Scripture and a devotional thought, a song, and sometimes a work of art to guide you into worship each day through the Advent season and into the celebration of Christmas. It runs for the entire month of December. Just click on the link and then click on the date.
https://www.ailbe.org/shepherds/shepherds-content/22-articles/2332-rusty-s-online-advent-calendar
