Written on our Hearts

Scripture: Hebrews 8:8-13 (ESV)

“For he finds fault with them when he says: ‘Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbour and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful towards their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.’ In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”

There is nothing quite like an old slow computer to rile me up. I have had my own computer from about age 6, and I learnt to type before I learnt to write. I memorised which keys to punch on the old DOS computers to get to the games I wanted. This was wonderful as a child, but having access to the best computers from such a young age has given me a weakness. I simply cannot abide by a slow or otherwise not fully functioning PC. I have been known to upgrade family member’s laptops simply because they frustrate me when I see them suffering. Now when you get the new laptop, or the new computer, and it is fast and sleek and wonderful, you can’t understand how you ever lived without it. The difference between the old and the new is stark.

The author of Hebrews tells us of a similar change that happened between the old and the new covenant. Now we are continuing on from the passage yesterday, where we learnt that Jesus ushers in a new and better covenant. Today we turn our attention to some of the differences between the old and the new. Why was the new covenant needed?

Well because the old one didn’t actually work. You see when God gave the old covenant to Moses and when the Israelites agreed to live under the old covenant rules there was a problem. The old covenant required obedience to God’s law, however because human hearts are wicked and corrupt Israel failed to obey the laws. They failed to uphold their side of the covenant bargain. The old covenant and the law was good at pointing out our sin, but it didn’t actually change the hearts of people from the inside.

That is where the new covenant in Jesus’ blood is superior. Because in our passage, the author is quoting Jeremiah 13:31-34, where the prophet Jeremiah speaks of what the new covenant would be like. Specifically he says that in the new covenant the law of God would be written on the hearts and minds of God’s people. No longer would we need external stone tablets, but actually we would have God’s law written on our hearts. That happens when the Holy Spirit lives in us and works on our hearts. We are changed from the inside out.

We start to obey the law of God not because we need to, but because we want to.

And that’s pretty special. Thank God for the new covenant!

Prayer:

Dear God, thank you for the new covenant in Jesus. Thank you for writing your law on our hearts and minds. Please help us obey it more and more each day. Amen.

Spiritual Challenge:

Again reflect on the areas of your life where you are resisting the law of God written on your heart. Bring this area to God in prayer and ask him to purify you.