Jeremiah 32:39 “And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: 40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. 41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.”
Here is a promise and determination God had toward the children of Israel. It was out of his mercy, and it’s not only to them. It’s in the heart of every New Testament believer in Jesus Christ.
If we read just a few verses up, we see that God warned Israel of what was coming. In giving these very words Israel’s decline was already in motion. This is like we see today on a global scale. Before the chastisement of captivity, while the decline was happening, God made a promise. What God says comes to pass.
Due to division and derision Israel was no longer united in scripture and how to live. They drifted away and were tolerant with the beliefs of the heathen. “Truth was fallen in the street.” It had been milked down by mixing God’s ways with other ways and religions. The people worshiped God and Baal. There was more than one holy book. They were losing their identity, power and victory. Soon they would lose their nation. In the midst of this God said “I will give them one heart, and one way.” We can claim this today. There are many conflicts and disagreements that could make us depart from the faith, but we have the promise and reality of one heart and one way.
There is no choice in how to go. There is one clear-cut way. There is one book and one church to belong to. It’s not open to personal interpretation. It doesn’t need updating to make us feel better. God doesn’t need to be modified. We have the same God, the same Way, the same cross, the same gift of God, and we’re added to the same flock when we choose him. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, the life.” Regardless of your background, creed or your sin, there is one way for all. God’s way can be my way. It’s a privilege to go God’s way. It’s the way past the devil and to victory. This success came through Jesus Christ; he is the one way. He gives us one heart and one way. It works and makes us one heart with him and each other. With all our differences God can make us one. Through his blood he tore down the partition that enabled us to be one in unity with God and thereby with each other.
In verse 41 he says he will do it with “my whole heart and with my whole soul.” The secret of eternity is that God has a soul. It’s not mortal. Our body is mortal. When God breathed into Adam he became a living soul. God’s breath brought life. He gave his whole heart and soul. We are saved because of that. Jesus lives forevermore. We’re saved and born again, made HIS child by being born of the Spirit of God. By him we live and move and have our being. It’s not because of the beating of our heart but his. We live as part of his heart. Our heart can trust his heart.
Jesus is the heartbeat of God and is the center of our being-one way, one heart. You and I can live through it all, overcome and make it home. As long as we stay connected to God’s heart through Jesus Christ we’ll never die. Our closing prayer should be “Lord, help me understand this marvelous way and this privilege we have to live in one heart with you.” In John 17 Jesus said “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 