I hope all is well and that you are finding relief from the heat on these warmer days. Last Sunday we had a wonderful message from Grant Teagarden on understanding the Father’s love.  This Sunday, we have the pleasure of hearing a message from Kim Nowlin.  From the few conversations I’ve had with her this week, I’m excited to hear it in its entirety.

It is probably no surprise to you that I am still meditating on love and its implications for our personal, collective, and kingdom lives.  I have found that the ideas from my article from last week, Serious About Love, are actually transferable to a great number of areas in our lives.  As I continued thinking and praying, the passage, Jeremiah 31:31-34, came to mind.

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.” 

In this passage I see that God in exchanging the old covenant with the new removed the external code of righteousness for one that is internal.  The change is from a one size fits all approach to being in relationship with God to one written on the hearts of every believer and administered by the Holy Spirit.  How I see this playing out in real life is that just as God in removing the structure of the Law and replacing it with a person, I too in my relationships need to let go of forms, positions, and even rules and in place insert myself.  There is no other way to love.  I know this is easier said than done, but at the present, I can’t ignore the door before me.  I pray this encourages you to seek the Lord for ways in which you might be the best option in place of something less personal.  Let me know what you think.

Grace and peace,

Brook