Through The Bible in a Year - April 20, 2026

“I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.” – Jeremiah 31:33

Centuries after God has delivered his people from Egypt, they abandon him and worship other gods. So, what does he say to them through the Prophet Jeremiah: “What did we do the first time around? I gave you covenant law on stone tablets. I put it in the Ark of the Covenant. We put it in the temple. I had all kinds of physical, material ways to remind you of My love.

“And you slapped My hand away. You turned your back. You walked away.”

Yet, God does not say that he will walk away.

He says, “I’m going to establish a new covenant with you. It’s not just going to be for the nation, but for each individual. It’snot going to be maintained by external rituals but by internalcommitments. I’m working for your heart’s commitment now, not just external observances. So, I’m going to work inside of you by My spirit.”

God is actually clarifying what He said to Abraham when His covenant was first established with the Jewish people. The Bible says that Abraham was counted as righteous before God, not by his works, but by his faith. Now the Lord is driving home that truth for every person He loves: by faith, you will be made righteous and united to me. My plan is for you to connect to me by what’s inside of you, not by depending on externalordinances that may just be mechanical or superstition, but by depending on me in a loving relationship because I have loved you so unfailingly.

Some years ago in Monterey, Mexico, the Roman Catholic Church built a beautiful replica of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, assuming people would flock to it. They did not. Barely a fraction of those anticipated ever went. Why?

People are seeking something real to touch their hearts. Less and less, are we content with external observances and burdensome traditions that seem more about yielding to earthly powers than really honoring God. We want a relationship with God that is not just a show of history and money. We want the Lord to touch us.

This is what God promised through Jeremiah. The Lord said, “I will put My word, My law, in your hearts. Your desire to serve me and experience my grace will not be accomplished by the external works of your hands. I will work from the inside out to claim your heart, rather than expecting you to work from the outside in to claim mine.”

Religion says: Follow these rules, perform these rituals, do these things, and God will accept you. The gospel has always said: by his grace God accepts you through faith, and then His Spirit works from the inside to change you so that you can honor him and experience his blessings in your life.

Respond: Are you trying to work from the outside in? Performing rituals, following rules, doing good things to earn God’s acceptance of your soul? Or are you trusting him to work from the inside out—showing you his love through Christ that you could never earnso that your heart warms in love and trust of Him and you yearn to honor him externally because His Spirit has transformed your heart internally?

Prayer: Lord, my human instinct is to work from the outside in—performing, striving, earning. But You say the new covenant that applies to me is internal. You work from the inside out. You show me how great is your love so that I long to honor you. In this way You write Your law on my heart. Keep writing Lord. I turn to you in faith so that you will change me by Your Spirit, not by my efforts. I ask this in the confidence that you have said, “Whoever seeks You, You will never turn away. I am seeking You in faith. Now turn me Your Way. This I pray in Jesus’ name,Amen.