Just a thought (or, um, a minor rant, perhaps...)

I've been reading Jeremiah lately because Jeremiah 29:11 keeps poping up on my radar ("For I know the plans that I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a fuutre.") which I will probably deal with in tomorrow's returning "Thursday Theology".

But today a thought struck me. Jeremiah 30:22 says, "So you will be my people and I will be your God." And I thought, "That's a great verse - I need to tuck that away in my heart." And that's true, it IS a great verse...but I want to hold on to it in isolation. As just that verse, and not the whole of this part of the book of Jeremiah, where it really matters.

You see, Jeremiah has just been telling the people that they're in exile because they really sinned against God and God warned them and warned them but they refused to stop. So God took some drastic measures. And even in exile, they're starting to listen to other voices than God's, and so God has to warn them again.

But even in this context of willful rebellion, God is promising grace. The day will come when God will break the yoke of the oppressors and restore Israel and this goes on for two chapters, and God says,

"The time is coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.

³² It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them, "
declares the LORD.

³³ "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time," declares the LORD.
"I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.

Ooo, and that's good stuff, too, isn't it? "I will...write it on their hearts." And there it is again, "I will be their God and they will be my people."

But that's an awful lot to hold on to. So, yeah, I'm tempted to just take the soundbites - the bumper stickers - "I will be their God and they will be my people" and just hold on to that. But there's so much more to it - there's so much depth in God's word that we do God a huge disservice (dare I say we commit sin?) when we laser focus on one or two verses and ignore the richness and depth of "the whole counsel of God."

Well, just a Wednesday morning soapbox, now back to your regularly scheduled program...