Circumcised Hearts

4 “If you return, O Israel,
declares the Lord,
to me you should return.
                        If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
and do not waver,
            2           and if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
                        then nations shall bless themselves in him,
and in him shall they glory.”
3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
                        “Break up your fallow ground,
and sow not among thorns.
            4           Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
                        lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of the evil of your deeds.”
Jeremiah 4:1-4
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Circumcised Hearts
Through Jeremiah, the Lord calls His people to return, not with outward show, but with hearts laid bare before Him. Israel had the marks of the covenant in their flesh, the temple in their midst, and the right words on their lips. Yet their hearts were stubborn and divided. True repentance is not mere ritual reform but a turning away from idols to the living God. The Lord desires truth in the inward being. We know this temptation. We can bear the name “Lutheran,” attend Divine Service, and yet cling to secret sins or trusted idols. The command to “circumcise your hearts” exposes us. By nature, our hearts are hard and unclean. But what the Law commands, the Gospel gives. Christ was cut off for us on the cross. His holy flesh was pierced so that our stony hearts might be made new. In Holy Baptism, He works that deeper circumcision, putting off the old Adam and raising us to live before God in faith and love.