Often times we speak and not really mean it; we promise and not keep it. In our changing times, we often see people and ourselves included blurting out promises and forgetting it. Why have we stooped so low as not to realize that our words reflect who we are?
Do promises still count? Are vows only given in marriages? Do we still make vows and keep it? How about making vows to God? Or making pledges to ourselves?
It is not only limited to fear wracked fishermen in the midst of a swelling storm or a dangling student striving to pass the final exam that promises are often provided, especially directed to God. God is not a talisman we flash when threatened or a special oration mentioned warding off danger or harm. The reality is we remember Him only in times of trouble. And the sad part is that we entangled ourselves with vows we intended not to keep. But if we did made promises, we are very much incline keeping them.
Vows made voluntarily in the presence of God are common in the Old Testament, from Job to Jephthah, from Hannah to David. Examples of these exceptional individual are myriad in the Bible. But exercising this privilege which God didn’t initiate carries with it a heavy responsibility. God could be a tool for a foolish decision or any trivial burden of the conscience. He who made his vow to God must pay it. Though God is good and patient, He is also a God anyone could not take lightly. It is not judicious neither fitting, for God is in heaven and man are of the dust of the earth.
When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5)
Jesus Christ Himself warned of such acts of abuse of anybody making such vows without recompensing it before God. It is better not to than not repaying it. But a vow made and paid is such a wonderful thing. It proves that what we say reveal who we are. I believe it personally God is pleased for anyone who fulfills his vow before Him.
If you promised to pray for the salvation of a loved one, it is better to start looking for a quiet place to bow the knee. If you promised God not to indulge to that same sin, it is better not to linger long in that avenue where you usually fall and start filling your mind with something more productive. If you promised God to be a better parent, it good to start reading His word and loving your children.
Making such vows to God, to others and to ourselves create in us a consciousness of watchfulness in our actions, words and thoughts, we become more careful on things we can do or unable to.
Do promises still count? Are vows only given in marriages? Do we still make vows and keep it? How about making vows to God? Or making pledges to ourselves?
It is not only limited to fear wracked fishermen in the midst of a swelling storm or a dangling student striving to pass the final exam that promises are often provided, especially directed to God. God is not a talisman we flash when threatened or a special oration mentioned warding off danger or harm. The reality is we remember Him only in times of trouble. And the sad part is that we entangled ourselves with vows we intended not to keep. But if we did made promises, we are very much incline keeping them.
Vows made voluntarily in the presence of God are common in the Old Testament, from Job to Jephthah, from Hannah to David. Examples of these exceptional individual are myriad in the Bible. But exercising this privilege which God didn’t initiate carries with it a heavy responsibility. God could be a tool for a foolish decision or any trivial burden of the conscience. He who made his vow to God must pay it. Though God is good and patient, He is also a God anyone could not take lightly. It is not judicious neither fitting, for God is in heaven and man are of the dust of the earth.
When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5)
Jesus Christ Himself warned of such acts of abuse of anybody making such vows without recompensing it before God. It is better not to than not repaying it. But a vow made and paid is such a wonderful thing. It proves that what we say reveal who we are. I believe it personally God is pleased for anyone who fulfills his vow before Him.
If you promised to pray for the salvation of a loved one, it is better to start looking for a quiet place to bow the knee. If you promised God not to indulge to that same sin, it is better not to linger long in that avenue where you usually fall and start filling your mind with something more productive. If you promised God to be a better parent, it good to start reading His word and loving your children.
Making such vows to God, to others and to ourselves create in us a consciousness of watchfulness in our actions, words and thoughts, we become more careful on things we can do or unable to.