a change that God Himself brings about.

A reflection on Jeremiah 31:33
“This is the covenant that 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 God, and they will be my people.”

When you read through the Old Testament in the Bible, so much of it is a sad, sad story. We learn about a God who is so good, so faithful and so loving. But of a people who are so faulty, so proud and so sinful. A people who continue to turn away from the loving God who made them – who made them so that they might enjoy relationship with Him.

Even though God continues to preserve and help this wayward people, for the most part we see no change in their attitude, but instead a hardness, a deadness, a continual running to everything and everyone else – other than to the God who continued to provide for them, who continued to lead them, and free them, and love them.

But here we see one of the greatest passages of promise in the entire Bible. God Himself promised in Jeremiah that there would come a day when He would make a new covenant, a new agreement with His people – where He would put His law in their minds and write it on their hearts. Where He will be their God and they will be His people.

This is exactly what God did through Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God came to die on the cross to make this possible. His death and resurrection opened up the way for all those who trust in Him to be forever forgiven and to become God’s very own children, who are given now God’s very own Spirit.

This change that God Himself brings about creates a new person who no longer wants to live how they lived before, but wants to know and please God. Someone who treasures Jesus and delights in Him. Is this to gain merit with God? No!

It is because of all that God has done in Jesus, because we were like sheep going astray, but now we have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. (1 Peter 2:25).