The Israelites were on the verge of
entering the Promised Land. But before they did, God wanted to
remind them of a couple of things. First of all He wanted to remind
them again of the Law given and some aspects related to it. One of
the aspects that I would like to share with you today is the laws
relating to vows. God commanded the following concerning vows:
"A man who makes a vow to the Lord
or makes a pledge under oath must never break it. He must do
exactly what He said He would do." Numbers 30:2
It was law. And remember that in
those days not many could read or write and paper wasn't even
invented yet. Therefore written contracts were a scarcity. Thus
their word was law. They had to do what they said they would
do.
And in the New Testament, Jesus
expands on this topic and tells us that we shouldn't make vows
today, but we should keep to our word.
"Just say a simple, "Yes, I will,"
or "No, I won't." Your word is enough. To strengthen your promise
with a vow shows that something is wrong." Matthew 5:37
Wouldn't that be a wonderful world!
If one's 'Yes' is 'yes' and one's 'no' is 'no'. How many stories
haven't we heard where things were promised and not delivered. How
many instances have we experienced where someone didn't keep their
word. A promotion was promised but never given, a tender was
promised but never allocated, help was promised but it never
arrived, a promise was given that they will attend you function but
they never came etcetera. It leaves a sour taste in your mouth if
that happens.
Now there is nothing we can do
concerning promises made to us that were never kept, but we can
certainly make sure that we keep to our word. Our word is our
honour. We need to have so much respect for our word that we think
three times before we answer. How many times have you said that you
would do something and when the time comes to do it, you are very
sorry that you ever said it? You wished that you had kept your
mouth and never promised something, but now unfortunately you did.
I think the lesson for all of us today is to think before we speak.
We need to think it through carefully, because once you said that
you are going to do something, you have to. There is no turning
back if you want to honour your word.
Think before you commit to
something, you will be very glad that you did!
Father please give us the patience
to first think before we commit to something. We know that it
pleases You if we keep to our word. Please help us to stand strong
and to do just that. In Jesus Name. Amen