Living in the Spirit

October 10, 2022

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 31:27-34
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. In those days they shall no longer say:
‘The parents have eaten sour grapes
   and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

In so many ways like the people of Israel, we have lost our way, and we are paying for it dearly through the outcomes of our children. Indeed, we have eaten sour grapes set our children’s teeth on edge. A law was past this year requiring school systems that have ID cards for their children to include the help number for suicide prevention on the card because we are experiencing so much suicide among our youth. The time is now for us to turn this mess around. We can return to the Lord and live in the light of his covenant of love. Love is not severe rules and harsh judgments of others. It is the love that says do unto others as you would have them do unto you. (Matthew 7:12) and Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:29) God is always pulling with us.

Prayer: Lord, renew in us a right spirit*. Amen.

*From Psalm 51:10

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.