Daily Devotion for February 10, 2025

Devotion:

For an audio version of this devotion, click here.

Read Jeremiah 31:31-34.

God had warned the people of Judah over and over again through the prophet Jeremiah that, if they did not repent and turn back to God, they would be punished. They ignored Jeremiah’s repeated warnings and continued on with their rebellious ways, and the Babylonians swept through, destroying the temple and taking the best and brightest of the people into captivity. Living as exiles in a foreign land, the people soon began to lose hope. If God allowed this horrible consequence on them because of their sin, they could see little promise in their future.

Then God gave the words to a letter that Jeremiah was to write to the exiles.  Today’s passage comes from that letter, and it is full of hope. God knew that a day was coming when the exiles would turn back to God, sorry for their sins and ready to live a righteous life. In this passage, God describes a new covenant that will be based upon relationship. This covenant will not be like the old covenant in the law, but rather it will be new. The new covenant came into being in some ways when the exiles returned home and rebuilt the temple. But it came to full fruition when God sent his Son into the world. 

Personal Worship Option:

Give thanks today that we serve a God who is full of hope and the promise of better days. Even when we separate ourselves from God, God is still there, reaching out to us. Live into this new covenant that is based upon faith in God through Jesus Christ.