93. Honour your word (1)

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

 

3 comments for “93. Honour your word (1)”

  1. Gravatar of RonelleRonelle
    Posted Saturday, 28 June 2014 at 3:33:13 PM

    The world would surely be a better place if we would honour our promises!Thank you for reminding us.

  2. Gravatar of RonelleRonelle
    Posted Friday, 01 August 2014 at 7:14:01 AM

    Thank you Ilze. Yesterday morning I had the same message in my quiet time. We have to keep on praying for our beautiful land that hurts so much. Pray for the leaders that the Holy Spirit may work in their hearts, and for someone to stand up and say "Enough is enough!" Lord we know that You ARE in control.

  3. Gravatar of Ena EnslinEna Enslin
    Posted Friday, 01 August 2014 at 3:29:28 PM

    AMWN!!!

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