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Hebrews 8:10-13
This is the covenant I will establish with the people 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 they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘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.”
By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
New International Version (NIV)
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“Deal or no deal?” Have you seen that show? In a game of chance, the participant chooses a suitcase worth an unknown sum of money. As the game progresses, a shadowy banker in a booth upstairs offers deals to try to buy the suitcase back. Each time the banker makes the offer, the gameshow host Howie Mandel asks the contestant, “Deal or no deal?” People in the audience shout their advice: “Take the deal!” or “No deal.”
God made a covenant or deal with Israel in the Old Testament. But the people were not faithful to God’s covenant. They didn’t hold up their end of the bargain. The writer of Hebrews quotes the lofty words of the prophet Jeremiah who envisioned a day when God would offer a new covenant to his people. Unlike the old covenant written on tablets of stone, this covenant would be written on human minds and hearts. Instead of knowing about God from a distance, the people of God will actually know him personally. And God will forgive their sins.
Every time I read this letter to the Hebrews, I remember again that we don’t know who wrote it. Some guess that Apollos wrote it. The passages on encouragement remind us of Barnabas, the “son of encouragement.” Still others think Paul wrote it. This quote about knowing God reminds us of Paul’s words in the letter to the Philippians when he says, “I want to know Christ, yes to know the power of his resurrection.”
God is willing to forgive us and remember our sins no more. What will we do? Shall we hedge our bets and search for another deal? Some people try to play a different game of “Let’s make a deal” with God. God does not play that game. God’s new covenant represents the best “deal” we will ever be offered. Deal or no deal? By all means, take the deal!
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Pray with me:
Father, we thank you for the new covenant sealed in Christ’s blood. Forgive us for bargaining with you and trying to make deals with you. God grant today that we will come to know you on a better than second hand basis. May we know the power of your resurrection and the participation in your sufferings. Write your law of love on our hearts, we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Join us in memorizing the Word. Scripture for this week:
Matthew 6:16-18
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
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| Our 2020 Every Day with Jesus readings will follow the Foundations New Testament reading plan. Copies of the reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download your copy at REPLICATE.ORG
We would love for you to join us as we read the New Testament through this year, five chapters a week. In addition I will continue my long-standing practice of reading one Psalm a day through the year. Use Robby Gallaty’s H. E. A. R. plan to study each chapter (also found at REPLICATE.ORG). Highlight verses which speak to you, explain what they mean in your own words in a journal, apply them to your own life, then respond by doing what God tells you to do.
Joyfully,
Duane
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