Thursday, December 1, 2022  

Today’s Scripture Reading
Jeremiah 31:31–34

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It 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. But 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. No 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. (NRSV)

Reflection

I sometimes think about my life in terms of defining moments that change the trajectory of my life. Sometimes it’s clearly a big moment, such as meeting my future husband when we both walked out of a building at the same time or holding each of my children for the first time. Other times it’s more of a process, such as learning how to think differently about something that’s been ingrained or mastering a new skill. But whether they are more gradual or instantaneous, these inflection points are all part of a collection of forward movement in terms of my faith and my life.

And that’s what I find both reassuring and encouraging about this passage in Jeremiah. It’s not just we humans who are learning and growing. God is clearly aware that there are different stages in God’s relationship with us as well as our relationship with God. While we can see these stages play out throughout the Old Testament, this one is particularly poignant. God expresses the reality of the Israelites breaking the covenant that God made with them when God led them out of Egypt and thinking through what a new covenant will look like. God is not giving up on us, but God is recognizing that a new approach is needed. While the contours of this new covenant aren’t yet defined, at least to us in this passage, this is clearly an inflection point in God’s plan. God is not abandoning us because of our failures, but instead, God is establishing another step in the direction of Christ coming to write his love and his grace on our hearts.

Prayer

Holy God, thank you that your love and creativity keep a step ahead of us and of our understanding of what it means to be your children. Help us to live out the words that you have written on our hearts and to share that love with others in this Advent season. Amen.

Written by Lisa Stracks, Member of Fourth Presbyterian Church

Reflection and prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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