“For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. “Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. Ezekiel 36:24-28
Do you catch the initiative of God? Those words “I will” slam into us the reality that He seeks us, He works in us, He regenerates us. We offer nothing to the miracle of the New Covenant.
We are the Sought-After.
While Israel turned and worshiped other gods, Yahweh was seeking. While Israel campaigned to take over the Promised Land in their own strength, Yahweh was seeking. While Israel got busy with daily life and forgot their deliverance from Egypt, Yahweh was seeking.
And what about you? Temptations from work pull at you to advance your career at the expense of others. Images from social media deceive you into thinking that you must appear perfect like that next woman. Busyness distracts you from being present to your family and friends. To Jesus, whom you call Savior.
All the while, Yahweh seeks you.
The beauty of the New Covenant is that God places within us a desire and an ability to know him, follow him, be committed to him. Under the Old Covenant, we struggled to abide by God’s Law. We failed. We had no staying power. But the power of the New Covenant is that Jesus completes that work of righteousness in us so that we are capable of communing with God.
Simply put, He makes our hearts soft. Flesh-like. Able to respond to grace.
Belonging to him, as his people, gives us the assurance that when we seek, we will find. When our lives become wrapped up in all He is—his goodness, love, faithfulness, holiness—then his Spirit is continually seeking and finding us, and we return that communion by seeking and finding him.
It’s a circle of oneness. That’s the New Covenant. Is that your reality today? It can be. Be sprinkled. Be cleansed. Be the Sought-After.
This was so encouraging.