A New Covenant

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord . . . “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Jeremiah 31:33,34

Daily Devotion – March 26, 2021

Devotion based on Jeremiah 31:33,34

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Passover begins at sundown tomorrow. Passover is a commemoration of God rescuing the people of Israel from being enslaved in Egypt. When the people slaughtered a lamb for a meal and put some of the blood of the lamb on their doorframe, the Lord passed over their homes and did not allow death to come to them on the same night that he allowed death to come into the homes of the Egyptians who were enslaving them.

People who observe Passover tomorrow will partake of a meal that includes lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs, and wine. They will be remembering the old covenant of the Lord. In that old covenant, the Lord had Moses lead them out of Egypt toward the promised land of Israel. The Lord told them to obey his commandments as a way of thanking him for his deliverance.

Sadly, God’s people were never able to keep his commandments.

Anticipating that failure, the Lord provided someone to keep his commandments on behalf of every person who has ever lived. That commandment keeper, Jesus, didn’t just live a perfect life. He also shed his blood to take the punishment for all those lawbreakers.

When Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples, he said that shedding his blood was a new covenant—something that had been anticipated by the prophet Jeremiah 600 years earlier. In the new covenant, the Lord would forgive everyone who had ever broken any of his commandments. He would forgive their wickedness and forget their sins.

You are living in the new covenant. The Lord has promised forgiveness for you through faith in Jesus regardless of how well you have kept the commandments. Let this assurance be your motivation for keeping his commandments, thanking him for delivering you from your sins.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for your new covenant and for delivering me from my sins. Help me keep your commandments this day. Amen.

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