Lent

This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. (Hebrews 8:10)

How can I trust you? How can you trust me? How can any of us trust God? People often make promises to each other, but even when we hook our pinky fingers together and say “pinky promise,” human beings often break our promises to each other simply because we are human beings.

Yes, humans are fallible, weak, and sometimes mean, and we break our promises. Sometimes, although we have tried our very best to keep a promise, the fact is that we have changed. 

In Hebrews 8:10, God states a covenant, or oath-bound promise, with Israel. The Old Testament tells us of several covenants or solemn promises God made with Israel. There were covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David. How was God able to make these promises and keep them? Each of these men was fallible, weak, and some might even say mean at times. And each of them experienced turning points of change in their lives. So, how could God be expected to keep these covenants?

The answer is so simple even little children can understand. God, the creator, knows the complete story. There was one more covenant in the New Testament that God would reveal. His own Son would be the “new covenant,” and God would seal it with Jesus’ blood on the cross. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection fulfilled God’s covenants. Human beings may not be able to trust each other all the time, but we can trust God all the time. God never changes. How do we know? Jesus proved that fact on the cross. God keeps His promises.

Let us pray

Faithful God, we thank you for always keeping your promises, even and especially when we do not keep ours.  Please change our hearts, so that we may become trustworthy like you.  Amen.

Today’s devotional was written by Miranda Brakebill and read by Greta Smith.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.