This new plan I’m making with Israel isn’t going to be written on paper,
isn’t going to be chiseled in stone. This time I’m writing out the plan in them,
carving it on the lining of their hearts. I’ll be their God, they’ll be my people. Hebrews 8:9-10
The law given to Moses on stone did not work. The people did not obey or follow the law; thus, God punished them and created a new law. This law would be written on the hearts of His followers, not on paper, stone or clay tablets. This time God would stamp it on their hearts, where it would always be with them and in them.
How often have I read this scripture in my seventy-nine years, and today it is more powerful than ever before. I understand about the law being on the outside. The Israelites heard it over and over and maybe even read it a time or two from the tablets or parchments that were constantly being revised to add more laws. But it was not a matter of the will and mind which can be very weak, but of the heart. God’s new plan was to be written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit! Our obedience was to come from the inside with an inner knowledge of forgiveness and a clean heart before God. These inner laws were to be founded on the love of God and sacrifice of Jesus. They were lived out before us by the Messiah and regulated by God, not man! God would look at the heart and not the list of more than 630 rules and regulations, which no one could ever expect to remember or obey. According to His new law, sins did not have to be forgiven over and over with animal sacrifices. They were forgiven once for all, never to be remembered again. This new forgiveness was not just for outward sins, but the sins of the heart where sin originates. What an awesome new plan! Forget the lengthy checklist and listen to the Holy Spirit and obey. Keep those first two commandments and all else will come from a heart of love for God and others.
Thank You, Father for plan B, which is really plan A that was thwarted in the Garden of Eden. Thank You that we will one day experience the fullness and completion of Your original plan. Although I have had Your Spirit in salvation since I was seven and experienced a deeper walk and fullness as a college freshman, there is still so much I have yet to learn and experience. Help me understand more about You, and the power made available to us in Jesus’ resurrection and the giving of the Holy Spirit.
Journey with Joyce 