Ever consider religion to be primarily a set of rules?  A list of do's and don'ts?

If so, you're not alone.  Many people have seen Christianity this way. 

And who could blame the Hebrews for considering the worship of their God as prohibitions and instructions?  They had over 600 commands.

But 2 times in the space of a couple chapters, the author of the Book of Hebrews quotes from the prophet Jeremiah, telling us that God has something different in mind.

"The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant...This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel...I will put my laws in thier minds and write them on their hearts.  I will be their God and they will be my people...they will all know me."  (Hebrews 8:8ff, quoting Jeremiah 31:31-34, [see also Hebrews 10:16 referencing Jer. 31:34])

What does this New Covenant or Agreement mean?

The NIV Study Bible suggests these four thoughts:

1) "God's laws will become inner principles".  Have you ever taught some one repeatedly, what they should or shouldn't do?  And then one day, they take it on themselves and begin to live by it, without even a word or glance from you?  (I think of our attempts to get the kids to put dishes in the dishwasher instead of leaving them unrinsed and in the sink.)

2) "God and his people will have intimate fellowship."  This suggests to me that people want to do what God has called them to do, not because they have to, but because they love God and want to do what He has called them to do.  (When we become adults, hopefully we're doing things [like eating right, exercising], because we know life is better when we do them, rather than simply doing them because we "have to".)

3) "Sinful ignorance of God will be removed forever."  But deeper than simply knowing about God, we will actually know Him.  When Hebrews 8/Jeremiah 31 talk about "knowing God", think of this picture:  In Genesis 4:1 "Adam knew his wife Eve" and the next thing you know, 9 months later...a baby was born.  This "knowing" is intense, personal, intimate.  Would you say that depth of relationship describes you and God today?

4) "Forgiveness of sins will be an everlasting reality."  Do you need to be reminded that God has forgotten your confessed sins of the past?  Are you dragging around memories of hurts and wounds that God has given you permission to release? 

May God write his Covenant upon our hearts and minds today, so that it pours out of every facial expression, tone of voice, word, action, and thought of our lives today.

Grace & peace