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.
34 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,"
declares the LORD.
"For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more." Jeremiah31:33-34
Yesterday we discounted "scapegoat theology" that abdicates the responsibility for our spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health to our forebears.
Jeremiah and Ezekiel both emphasised individual and personal responsibility. Ezekiel put it bluntly: "The soul who sins is the one who will die" (Eze 18:4)
Jeremiah also emphasises the need for each of us to have a personal relationship with God, but he offers us this incredible comfort: We do not have to take the initiative. We do not have to take the first steps. God takes the first steps and we must respond...
God's new covenant with his people is one in which God works individually in each person:
* He will write His truth in our hearts
* He will (re)assure us that He is our God
* He will place an awareness of Him in us - we can "know the Lord."
* He will forgive our sins - we get a fresh start.
So, not only are we free from the past - but God takes 99 steps toward us and even in the 1 step that we take towards Him, He is working in us to help us.
We are the ones who must take responsibility for our walk with God.
BUT we don't have to do it alone!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@gracepresby.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
