Jeremiah 31:31-34 (NRSV)
Read Jeremiah 31:31-34 on biblegateway.com
Verse 31The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Verse 32It 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. Verse 33But 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. Verse 34No 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.
Devotion
I played one season on my high school’s junior varsity soccer team. I did occasionally get some playing time in spite of having Cerebral Palsy and being unable to kick a ball straight to save my life. I love sports and I just wanted to be part of a team. I wanted to be an athlete, but I just don’t have athletic ability. There are just some things that we cannot do.
I am not an athlete, but I am a sinner. Like the rest of humanity, I’ve got sinning down pat. Also like the rest of humanity, I don’t have the ability to follow God’s ways or even call upon the Lord. This is yet another thing that I cannot do, at least, not by my own power.
That is why I am so glad to read these words from Jeremiah. When we cannot call upon the Lord, God calls us and establishes a relationship with us. You do not have the ability to call upon the Lord by your own power or strength, but rejoice, for God has called you. God establishes a relationship with you.
Prayer
Gracious God, I give you thanks for having called me and for having established a relationship with me when I was still weak and unable to call upon you. Amen.