and I will write them upon their hearts.
In the old covenant there is a problem. The problem is that even though the people know it they don't keep it. Even though there are great blessings promised if they do they still do not stand by it. It doesn't transform them. It doesn't impact them. Does this sound familiar?
The power of the new covenant is that it can transform us. This is the better promise. Rather than something outside of ourselves to which we respond, this new covenant promises that our hearts themselves can be changed. Our hearts transform from those that wander, those that do not stand by the covenant, to hearts that follow Jesus and cling to God.
I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
The fundamental core of this transformation is a personal knowledge of God at the deepest levels of who we are. This is what Jesus reveals in his love for us. He reveals it to each of us personally just as he does for all of us collectively in his cross and resurrection.
And they shall not teach, each one his fellow citizen and kin, saying,
"Know the Lord,"
for all shall know me, from least to greatest.
And all that has gone before, all our faults, and all our failures, are swept away so that there is nothing to hinder this new revelation of the Father's heart. "For I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sins no more."
It starts when Jesus calls us and we come to him, just as it does for the Apostles. We are not Apostles. We are not there successors, the bishops. And yet we do share in their mission to preach. We even share in their authority to drive our demons. Not in formal exorcisms do we drive them out. But in the small ways in which our love and compassion inspires hope we do drive back the darkness. Or we are meant to. But we have to be firmly grounded in the better covenant and the better promise. The law needs to be written not just on a page in our house, but in our minds and on our hearts. Just as the Apostles are first called "that they might be with him" and only then are sent out so too are we. Before mission makes sense he must be our God and we must be his people. Fortunately this is not lofty or far to seek. It is available for the asking.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
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