Jeremiah 31:31-34
"The time is coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, through I was a husband to them," declares the Lord. "This is the covenant I will make with the house 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 G-d, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, '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."THOUGHTS:
By this time Israel was split. The house of Israel and the house of Judah were separate. Their brokenness had led to a divide that seemed irreconcilable. And yet, G-d says, redemption will come there in that break. There will be a day that this split will be healed and the quarreling over religious things will end. He will draw them close write the important things on their heart and they will be one. They won't have to tell each other how they are wrong or what they are doing out of order. They will be able to just be and trust that G-d is present to all.
My siblings and I fight and there have been times we haven't spoken to one another. It's always because we draw our lines in the sand and we believe we are right and the other is wrong. We say things and hurt happens and we can't find our way back to each other very easily.
Likewise, this happens in the Church all the time. It's why we have denominations. Groups of people unable to just love one another and instead drawing lines in the sand and demanding that their way is the right way. We feel we have to teach one another what we know since it's obviously the right. This is why churches split. We can't just agree to love G-d and love others and let G-d sort out the rest. We draw our doctrinal lines. We claim our "righteousness" over others "righteousness." "Those liberals have it all wrong" and "those conservatives completely misread the text." "Good thing, I study the Bible because I know they don't." We kill each other with our "righteousness." We cut each other off because we refuse to see that G-d actually does reveal himself to ALL and in many different ways.
This passage brings us hope! There will be a day that all that crap ends. There will be a day when we are ONE! When we see G-d in every person and every person sees G-d. There will be a day when division ends and those that we thought were the furthest from G-d are sitting at his feet...maybe even closer than ourselves.
ACTION:
Gracious G-d, let me bite my tongue when I think I am right. Let me put the other before myself. Let me find you in the face of the person who seems so far away.
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