“The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors … ” (Jeremiah 31:31-33 ).

Israel was at a crossroads, and whatever choice was made, nothing would ever be the same. Before we’re too hard on the “house of Judah” and its apparent and consistent reluctance to change its ways, let’s review our own attitude toward change.

Could you make the change? Could you turn on a dime and go another direction with your life? After all, this is a real choice for many people, so you’d think the odds would be fairly high, especially if you were told that if you don’t change, you’ll die.

Sounds like a no-brainer. I’ll change. I’ll change. No you won’t. In fact, if you got this phone call in which you were told, “Change or die,” odds are 9 to 1 that you won’t. 

Of course, you’ll say, “Yes, I’ll change.” And of course, you’ll begin to make those changes in life-style, eating habits, recreational pursuits and so on. But it’s not long before your enthusiasm tapers off, and soon you’re back to square one. No change. No chance.

Case in point: People who’ve had heart bypass sur-gery, most definitely a life-and-death matter, are di-rected by their doctors to change their eating habits, stop smoking, exercise, and significantly alter their lifestyle. They know they should make those changes — know that they’ll die sooner than later if they don’t — yet multiple studies have shown that in just two years after such major surgery, 90 percent of these patients have not significantly altered their behavior. Change is just too tough.

The constant debates in our churches and denomina-tions about rules, religious practice, theology, etc. keep us firmly entrenched. We talk a lot, argue a lot, generate tons of information, but nothing seems to change and, worse yet, the lives of God’s people don’t change much either.

Time to embrace a new story, another covenant — the one God has been calling us toward all along. God wants us to know him, not just argue about what we know about him. God’s word through Jeremiah is a call for us to move from the left brain to the right brain, from our heads to our hearts, from cognition to communication, from religion to a relationship with God. Wonder how that would change things in our spirits, our selves and our churches?