Morning Devotional
April 26, 2003
“Post-Its”
by Don Emmitte

"The day will come," says the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife," says the LORD. "But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day," says the LORD. "I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their family, saying, `You should know the LORD.' For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will already know me," says the LORD. "And I will forgive their wickedness and will never again remember their sins." (Jeremiah 31:31-34 NLV).

It has become a central part of modern communications. It is present everywhere we turn: on our documents, our desktops, even around the edges of our computer monitors. It is known as the “Post-It Note." Wouldn't it be great to own the patent on the "Post-It Note!" We use them everyday to make quick notes to ourselves, or to write extra information on a report that is given to others, or to jot down a quick "to-do." Then, at some point in the future, every Post-It meets the same fate. We throw them out. Their usefulness is done, the words they carry are no longer important, and they get tossed!

Our reading this morning talks about a time when God was speaking to His people and He was making them a promise. An eternal promise that He would be their God: their protector, their Lord; and they would be His people: His children, the ones He loves and cherishes. It was an important promise and He wanted to write it where they would always remember it. So He wrote it on their hearts. Not on a tablet that could break, or on paper that would fade, and certainly not on a Post-It, that could easily be pulled off and thrown out. He wrote it on their hearts.

Writing on hearts is tricky business. It must start with the One who has an infinite amount of patience and care as well as a Creator's knowledge of the human heart. For anyone else to try this delicate procedure would only lead to disaster. But it also takes a willing heart. A person who trusts the Writer enough to open their heart to His touch. Someone who makes their heart available to be written on. So how does your heart look these days? Is it covered with the "Post-Its" of our modern culture? The opinions that come and go so quickly. The ideas of men that are heard and tossed away like Post-It Note Philosophies. Or is your heart covered with the timeless and permanent words of God. Has He written His promises on your Heart? Let today be the day that you make your heart available to the Author of Creation, the One who wants to write His story on your heart and in your life!

Post-It is a registered trademark of 3M Corp.