DAILY READING
REFLECTION
Promises, Promises
by Elaine Pierce
What does a promise mean to you? Children promise their parents that they will clean up their room if they can have that ice cream cone. Teenagers promise mom and dad they will stop texting their friends if only they can keep their phones with them at bedtime. Adults promise to never be late again.....to stop nagging.....to start that diet - tomorrow....
These are perhaps insignificant promises, but they are examples of how we try, on our own, to be 'good.' God made a promise, a covenant, with his chosen people. He would make them a great nation, and this promise would be everlasting (See Genesis 17 and Exodus 19.) God renews that ancient covenant, even though his people repeatedly broke their end of the bargain (see examples in the first paragraph - we continue to do that today, don't we.). In Hebrews 10:11-18, the author quotes Jeremiah. Take a look at these words of promise:
This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says, the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds. Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.
Are there laws you need to put in your heart? We all have a lot of head knowledge about what is right and what is wrong. Perhaps this is the time that you will ask the Holy Spirit to show you how you can live, day by day, a life that reflects the glory of our Lord. He is waiting, every day, to meet with us and to bless us. He wants us to drop our burdens at his feet. He has joy and life for us in abundance. Thanks be to God for his covenant.
PRAYER PRACTICE
Thank you, Lord, that every day is new. Forgive me for the many times that I ignore you and try to fix things on my own - that never works. Thank you for this everlasting covenant, and fill my mind and my heart with your holy presence. Amen.
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