“I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.” (Jeremiah 24:7 NIV)
Israel had a heart problem. Throughout the book of Jeremiah, God declares that his people have followed “the stubbornness of their hearts” (e.g., Jer 7:24; 11:8; 13:10; 16:12; 18:12). God goes as far to say that the human heart is more deceitful than anything and incurably sick (Jer 17:9). Israel tried living by the mantra “follow your heart,” and it ended in disaster.
But then there is the word of promise in Jeremiah 24:7. God promises that he will give the exiles who return from Babylon a heart to know their God. This is what they need most: a heart that knows and worships God, a heart that loves God and follows his ways not our own stubborn, sinful ways.
It gets even better: God then restates the central covenant promise: they will be my people, and I will be their God. Those who truly know the Lord enter into a covenant relationship with the Lord. The verse goes on to root this in the repentance of the people: for they will return to the Lord with all their heart.
That brings us full circle. How can this sinful people return to the Lord with a whole heart when their hearts are incurably sick? God must give them a heart to know him. Notice the interaction here between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. God gives his people a new heart to know him (cf. Ezek 36:26), they return to the Lord in repentance and faith, and the result is the covenant relationship. God’s sovereign grace is the primary cause, yet God’s people also genuinely repent and turn to the Lord. The result is enjoying what we were made for: a relationship with God.
Like Israel in the 6th century B.C., we too have deceptive, incurable hearts in our sinful nature. Our only hope is the grace of God that bestows new hearts and brings us into covenant relationship with himself (Jer 31:31-34). As the New Testament makes clear, these promises come true in the person and work of Jesus (Heb 8:8-12). In him, God gives us a new heart, we respond to his message with faith and repentance, and so we become part of God’s new covenant people.
The call to us remains the same: return to the Lord. Don’t stop living a life of faith and repentance. Trust the good news of God’s salvation in Christ. Hope in the new covenant promises of a relationship with God and the forgiveness of our sin.
In Jesus, these words of the prophets have come true! God still gives people hearts to know him. He still brings people into covenant relationship with himself. So, return to him with all your heart!
