“After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand” (Jeremiah 31:19a).
I am paraphrasing Karl Barth who said something like, “The more we understand who God is, the more we understand who we are. And the more truly we understand who we are, the more truly we understand God.”
The more we understand how loving, amazing, wonderful God is, the more we understand who we are as someone God values.
And the more we understand who we truly are as wretched sinners, the more we truly understand how amazing God’s grace and forgiveness is.
I think Barth is right.
The verse of the day talks about coming to a place of understanding. Often, we want to understand before we proceed in our journey of faith.
- I will start giving more when I start understanding more
- I will believe once I understand
- I will start living my life in obedience when I understand
- I will forgive after I understand
The problem with this is that it’s backwards. Obedience comes before understanding.
That’s what our verse teaches us. It’s only after we repent, after we obey, after we start down the path of faith that understanding comes.
Faith and obedience leads to understanding. Trust in God.
Praxis: Faith in Action 