But 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.” vs. 33
Jeremiah 31:33-34
Laws have a life of their own. As soon as they are established they begin to be amended and to proliferate. Soon every area of human behavior and enterprise is infected and defined in ways that defy our comprehension. Jeremiah believed that there was another way, that our lives didn’t need to be defined by external rules and regulations. He anticipated a time when God’s law would be imprinted on the hearts of all people and there would be no need for external ordinances to define and control our deeds and actions. When Jesus began his mission we got a sense of what that might look like in the flesh. With law as his servant and not his master he acted as the Spirit guided him, even when it irritated the scribes and Pharisees who were scrutinizing his every move. Under the direction of that same Spirit, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, believers discovered that the law of love had been carved on their hearts, and would spend their lifetimes living by grace, and selflessly serving the broken and the needy. And so it continues! All around, we see disciples loving and caring in Jesus’ name–they don’t carry rulebooks–but because they know whose they are, they know what to do!
Thought for the Day: Am I law guided or Spirit driven?
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