Daily Bible Reading Plans to help you read and understand God’s Word

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:24-30, Ezekiel 36:33-38, Ezekiel 37:25-28, Hebrews 8:6

Our modern, western minds are prone to conflate “covenant” with “contract.” We’ve been trained to think transactionally. We’re fluent in if/then and cost/benefit analysis. It’s no wonder that the audacious grace of God perplexes us.

The Bible is many things, one among them the unbelievably beautiful story of God’s lopsided covenant with the people He’s made. The Old Testament showcases this covenant through the nation of Israel.

They were small. God made them big promises.
They were chronically unfaithful. He remained faithful.
They were prone to wander. The Lord surrounded them with His presence.
They were whiny. He remained wonderful.

Hear His resolve.

“Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the LORD’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 
—Jeremiah 31:33, emphasis mine

God’s goal has never been ownership but relationship. For reasons that rightly boggle our finite brains, He knew Israel would fall dreadfully short. He called them His own anyway.

Though Israel was set apart and unique among the peoples of the earth, this radical covenant isn’t contained to the pages of the prophets. Jesus ushered in a better covenant, built on God’s old pattern of lavish love and grace. As the writer of Hebrews reminds us, “But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been established on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6).

The new covenant isn’t better because the old covenant was broken. God kept His promise then. He will keep His promise now. But Jesus made a way for lopsided grace to extend to all who call on His name. There has never been better news! We are the partakers of a new and forever covenant. The only signature on the contract is Jesus’s, signed in His blood.

We are small and relatively insignificant. Yet Christ died for us that we might receive the humungous gift of forgiveness.
We are unfaithful. Yet He will never turn His back.
We are prone to wander. So He leaves the ninety-nine.
We are whiny. He is our Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, and Mighty God.

God promises. We receive. God pours out His grace, and we bathe in it.

Don’t let your heart default to any other way of thinking this Advent season. Don’t try to drum up His favor. It’s yours already. Don’t make yourself weary trying to hold up your end of the bargain. You don’t serve a bargain-striking God. God’s grace is a gift, unwrapped and waiting for you to enjoy. You don’t have to earn it. You get to enjoy it. The truest wonder of this wondrous season is Jesus. Thank Him today for His lopsided grace.

Written by Erin Davis