ROAD CONSTRUCTION

ROAD CONSTRUCTION

READ:
Jeremiah 31:31-34

We have been delivered from
the law,...so that we should
serve in the newness of the
Spirit.  -Romans 7:6

Here is Michigan we joke that we have two seasons:  winter and road construction.  Harsh winters damage road surfaces, so repair crews begin their work as soon as the ice melts and the ground thaws.  Although we call this work "construction," much of what they do looks like "destruction."  In some cases, simply patching holes is not an option.  Workers have to replace the old road with a new one.

That's what it can feel like when God is at work in our lives.  Throughout the Old Testament, God told His people to expect some major renovation on the road between Him and them (Isaiah 62:10-11; Jeremiah 31:31).  When God sent Jesus, it seemed to the Jews as if their way to God was being destroyed.  But Jesus wasn't destroying anything.  He was completing it (Matthew 5:17).  The old way paved with laws became a new way paved with the sacrificial love of Jesus. 

God is still at work replacing old ways of sin and legalism with the way of love that Jesus completed.  When He removes our old ways of thinking and behaving, it may feel as if everything familiar is being destroyed.  But God is not destroying anything; He is building a better way.  And we can be confident that the end result will be smoother relationships with others and a closer relationship with Him. -Julie Ackerman Link

Free from the law-O happy condition!
Jesus has bled, and there is remission;
Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall,
Grace has redeemed us once for all. -Bliss
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Upheaval often precedes spiritual progress.

INSIGHT
The first recorded covenant was made by God to Noah after the flood (Genesis 9:8-17).  When God called Abraham to come out of Ur in Mesopotamia, He made a covenant with him promising to make him a great nation, giving him the land of Canaan, and promising that through him all nations will be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:5-16; 17:7-9).  In line with the Abrahamic covenant, God promised David that every king who sat on the throne of Israel would be his descendant (2 Samuel 7:10-16).  Through the prophet Jeremiah, God spoke of a new covenant (31:31-34) of which, according to the writer of Hebrews, Christ is the mediator:  "He [Jesus] is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises" (Hebrews 8:6; see also 9:15; 12:24).

Have a blessed day.
God Our Creator's Love Always
Unity & Peace