Trust A Simple Promise: God Forgives and Forgets
Daily Scripture
Jeremiah 31:31-34
31 The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 It won’t be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant with me even though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 No, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my Instructions within them and engrave them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 They will no longer need to teach each other to say, “Know the Lord!” because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord; for I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sins.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Johan Cruyff: “Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.”
The prophet Jeremiah knew that God’s promise—like Cruyff’s view of soccer—was simple at root: “I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sins.” Jeremiah grieved that Israel’s fickleness was leading to judgment and exile. But he based hope on God’s mercy. As scholar N.T. Wright noted, “The new covenant… transforms people from within.” * There are depths to study, but sometimes simply trusting God’s promise is the hardest thing of all.
- Jeremiah linked God “engraving” instructions on our hearts (echoing the stone tablets in Exodus 31:18) with God’s merciful forgiveness. This is what “ordered by love” looks like: not rules imposed from outside, but love engraved within—transforming us so we naturally live God’s way. Why would God’s mercy change how a person lives? How has your gratitude for God’s forgiving mercy in Jesus moved you toward living as God wants?
- Jesus’ words at the Last Supper—”This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20)—pointed back to Jeremiah’s promise. As William Barclay translated it, “This cup is the new covenant, and it cost my blood.” ** How can you deepen your worship at communion by recognizing it as the symbol Jesus chose for his “new covenant” bond with you?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you don’t want a casual connection with me. You shed your blood to invite me into an enduring covenant. Engrave your instructions on my heart. Help me simply and whole-heartedly accept your gift. Amen.
GPS Insights
Taylor Gerrard
Taylor Gerard, who serves as a Marketing & Communications intern this summer, wrote today’s Insights. She will be a junior at the University of Missouri studying International Business with a minor in Spanish. In her free time, she enjoys quality time with family, going on adventures with friends, and traveling. Taylor says, “I feel so blessed to help write and hope you take something valuable from it!”
This Scripture resonates heavily in my heart, and the harder I think about what to say in this reflection, the more conviction I feel to turn the focus from my head to my heart. “I will put my instructions within them and engrave them on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). It is hard to express the certainty of his word that is “engraved in my heart,” but there is some unexplainable confidence I have when I read this text, that I know my soul was made for more. As a human, I so often forget who and whose I am. I try to find satisfaction in my achievements, relationships, control, and the countless things the world offers me. It’s comical to reflect upon, because there is so much more joy and life in surrender. When I remember my creator, His greatness and love, it grounds me in every circumstance. What a joy it is to ponder how he loves us! I simply need to fix my heart on Jesus instead of the world.
Simple with depth.
Anticipation and hope.
Assurance in our relationship with Christ, and fulfillment in our hearts and souls because of it.
God’s character portrayed.
Deep adoration and praise.
All of these depict my heart’s perception of this passage.
It is such a sobering reminder that, as humans, we try to make ourselves feel all the feelings: to feel satisfied, to feel saved, to feel known, to feel loved, to feel worthy. In reality, we have a Savior who we did absolutely nothing to earn and therefore can do absolutely nothing to lose. Whenever I don’t feel close to God, I have to remind myself of his sweetness and sovereignty, displayed in this promise. He takes us by the hand and “never again remembers our sins” (Jeremiah 31:34). His love is so great that we have the gift of simply turning our hearts towards Him and finding fullness of life. “Because your unfailing love is better than life itself” (Psalm 63:3).
I believe one of the greatest deceptions we struggle with is the belief that we don’t have the FULL love of God in certain situations. This belief can harden our hearts and make us doubtful or resistant towards God’s light in the moments that we need to feel saved, seen, worthy, and loved the most. Today, by grace, may you remember that you don’t need to count on your feelings or achievements to be a child of God. He promises his people “will know [Him]” and that He “forgives their wrongdoings and never again remembers their sins” (Jeremiah 31:34).
If you feel empty today, pray for the Lord to open the eyes of your heart to his “goodness and faithfulness that will follow [you] all the days of [your] life” (Psalm 23:6). Don’t overcomplicate it. He knows you and loves you, and there is nothing you can do to change that. May you know His abounding power, love, and peace today. And feel in your heart the wonder of his promise: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
May we “be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind[s]” (Romans 12:2 NIV), no longer needing to lean on our own understanding, but recognizing a transformation of heart.
Thank you, Jesus!
© 2026 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* N. T. Wright, The Day the Revolution Began. New York: HarperOne, 2016, p. 257.
** William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series: The Letters to the Corinthians (Revised Edition). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1975, p. 103.
