This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, 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. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. (Hebrew 8:10-12)
The first covenant was the Law of Moses. There was a reason for the law. It was to ensure that Israel lived lives in relationship with God and man that were fruitful, abundant.
God still intended his law to be a matter of the heart. Not a to do list. Not a to don’t list. The law was intended to be a framework for relationships. Relationship with God and relationship with fellow man.
When God places his laws in the minds of his people and writes them on their hearts, the love relationship is there. We have it in us. We know when we have sinned against God. We have Him, his laws in our hearts and minds. And, once confessed, God will forgive wickedness and all sin. And remember them no more.
It’s a covenant much like marriage. An agreement. A relationship, first and foremost. A commitment.
The old covenant was the law. The new covenant is the law of love through Jesus Christ.
God is calling each one of us into a covenant relationship with him. Will you commit your life to God? It’s really a simple yes or no. Yes places you in right relationship with God. No is rejection of God and all He stands for. Think about it soberly. Then choose for yourself whom you will serve. You will serve either God, or some other god of your choosing.
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)
Selah.
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