November 6th, 2012
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

What’s Your Motivation?

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Lord, infuse the light of Your Holy Spirit into my mind and heart today. Help me see where I’m going.

Read Jeremiah 31:1-40

[1] “At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.” [2] This is what the LORD says: “The people who survive the sword will find favor in the wilderness; I will come to give rest to Israel.” [3] The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. [4] I will build you up again, and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt. Again you will take up your timbrels and go out to dance with the joyful. [5] Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the farmers will plant them and enjoy their fruit. [6] There will be a day when watchmen cry out on the hills of Ephraim, ‘Come, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.'” [7] This is what the LORD says: “Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations. Make your praises heard, and say, ‘LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’ [8] See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor; a great throng will return. [9] They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son. [10] “Hear the word of the LORD, you nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’ [11] For the LORD will deliver Jacob and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they. [12] They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD- the grain, the new wine and the olive oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more. [13] Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. [14] I will satisfy the priests with abundance, and my people will be filled with my bounty,” declares the LORD. [15] This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” [16] This is what the LORD says: “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” declares the LORD. “They will return from the land of the enemy. [17] So there is hope for your descendants,” declares the LORD. “Your children will return to their own land. [18] “I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf, and I have been disciplined. Restore me, and I will return, because you are the LORD my God. [19] After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ [20] Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD. [21] “Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take. Return, Virgin Israel, return to your towns. [22] How long will you wander, unfaithful Daughter Israel? The LORD will create a new thing on earth- the woman will return to the man.” [23] This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity, the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: ‘The LORD bless you, you prosperous city, you sacred mountain.’ [24] People will live together in Judah and all its towns-farmers and those who move about with their flocks. [25] I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.” [26] At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me. [27] “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. [28] Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD. [29] “In those days people will no longer say, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ [30] Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes-their own teeth will be set on edge. [31] “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. [32] It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. [33] “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel 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 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,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” [35] This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar- the LORD Almighty is his name: [36] “Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,” declares
the LORD, “will Israel ever cease being a nation before me.” [37] This is what the LORD says: “Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,” declares the LORD. [38] “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when this city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. [39] The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. [40] The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the LORD. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“In Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven, forgotten, forever.” What a wonder to contemplate!

Think Further

In the light of our meanness, how glorious is the God of Israel! Here he reveals the wonder of his purposes, the motivation that undergirds all his actions and the methods by which he will achieve all his plans. The utter faithlessness of God’s people has been a constant theme throughout this book. The people have played fast and loose with his covenant, so how does God respond? In his everlasting love he promises them a new covenant, a new beginning, a new relationship, a new life. So what’s new? What’s different? If they couldn’t keep the old, will they be able to keep the new? In one way it’s no different. God’s law doesn’t change. His Word remains constant. It’s the way the people receive and relate to that word that’s going to be different. It will no longer be just an external challenge on a page (though that remains vital) but an inner motivation of the mind and heart. Amazingly, that renewed covenant will be made with that same people who had so frequently broken their relationship with God. The title deeds of this new covenant are very specific–they are “with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah” (31). Even where his people are faithless he will remain faithful. Despite all its unfaithfulness, Israel is still called “Virgin Israel” (4,21). God will not only forgive and forget: he will restore (34; see also Heb. 8:12; 10:17).

We who live in a throwaway society find this very difficult to appreciate. Broken things are easily cast aside. The outdated is all too quickly replaced by the latest model. God is not like that. Redemption rather than replacement is at the heart of his mission statement. That is the foundation stone of the doctrine of assurance.

Apply

Because of Jesus, God has forgotten and you are forgiven. Think and pray about this truth until it is in your mind and heart as well as on the page.

Closing prayer

Father, I am so grateful that there are new beginnings with You. I pray today for a new devotion, a new focus, and a new obedience.

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