“I Will Make A New Covenant”

“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 minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, 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. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Jeremiah 31:31-34

There are parts of the country that have pretty bad winters. The roads get torn up. The big thaw takes place and large amounts of asphalt go in. Sometimes new roads have to be constructed to replace the old ones. In other words, simply patching the holes is just not enough. That same thing happens to us in our own lives. Our old roads have to be torn up and replaced. God told us to expect major renovations in our lives. The road between us and Him is always under construction.

God is still at work replacing old ways of sin and legalism with the way of love that Jesus completed. When He removes our old ways of thinking and behaving, it may feel as if everything familiar is being destroyed. But God is not destroying anything; He is building a better way. And we can be confident that the end result will be smoother relationships with others and a closer relationship with Him.

Upheaval often precedes spiritual progress.

Our Daily Bread – July 23, 2013