2005-07-15
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The Spirit has more for me to say about living in the Lord's light, especially about the issue of integrity. I have already written a lot about the taking of vows. But as a review, let me share, Christ words from the Sermon on the Mount, MT 5: 33-37, one more time. "You have also heard that people were told in the past, 'Do not break your promises, but do what you have vowed to the Lord to do.' But now I tell you: do not use any vow when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven, because it is God's throne; nor by earth, because it is the resting place for His feet; nor by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King. Do not even swear by your head, because you cannot make a single hair white or black. Just say 'yes' or 'no'-anything else you might say comes from the evil one.'" The imprecision of the English language can get one into some serious trouble, and our Lord understands this, because English is likely not the only language with this problem built into it.
Many people would consider the words, "promise" and "vow," to have the same meaning, but they do not. According to the American College Dictionary, a promise is a declaration of a future act or change with assurance made to another. This is strictly an agreement made between human to human. So, while making promises is a serious matter, it does not have the same degree of consequences for not be kept that a vow does. My approach to making promises is that I won't make one that I know I can't keep; if I promise something, I keep that promise. There have been times when this hasn't been easy, but I've tried to stick to it as best I can. On the other hand, a vow is a solemn promise, pledge, or personal engagement with another person that involves God as a party to it. A vow is binding, like the marriage vow, vow to raise a child in the faith, or a vow to serve God. Vows should not be made lightly. Our Lord wants us to understand that. It's also a reason why we must avoid statements like, "In the name of God promise me that you will never ……again." When a person is to testify in court, he is asked, "Do you promise to tell the truth no matter what, so help you God?" That is a vow taken before God and must be considered very serious and binding. God certainly hates lying.
The principles our Lord is teaching here have their origins in the Torah. LV 19: 11-12, for example. "Do not steal or cheat or lie. Do not make a promise in My name if you do not intend to keep it; that brings disgrace on My name. I am the Lord." NU 30 is a section of the Torah about rules concerning vows. Here are some samples: NU 30: 2, "When a man makes a vow to give something to the Lord or takes an oath to abstain from something, he must not break his promise, but must do everything that he said he would." When a wife makes a vow, her husband has the right to affirm or annul any vow she has made. But if, after a day after he hears of the vow, he has raised no objection, she must do everything she has vowed or promised. He has affirmed the vow by not objecting on the day after he heard about it [verses 13-15]. It's interesting to note that if a wife doesn't keep her vow because her husband prevented her from doing so, she is not required by God to keep it (12). If a husband annuls his wife's vow more than one day after hearing about it, he must suffer the consequences of failure to keep the vow (15).
There is an inherent fairness in all of this, and Christ never really deviated from the spirit of God's teaching in the Torah in anything He said. The principles are the same: Do not lie, cheat, or steal in God's name. These acts cause disgrace to it. The vow that Abraham asked his oldest servant to make when he would be sent off to find a wife for Isaac is a beautiful example of a solemn vow. GN 24: 1-3, "Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in everything he did. He said to his oldest servant, who was in charge of all he had, "Place your hand between my thighs and make a vow. I want you to make a vow in the name of the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not choose a wife for my son from the people here in Canaan. You must go back to the country where I was born and get a wife for my son, Isaac from among my relatives." A trend in the Scriptures of God allowing limited knowledge of the future or deeper than normal understanding of His motives exists for those whom He esteemed. I can only speculate that Abraham had this understanding about a person existing among his own relatives from Mesopotamia having the right heart to gain obedience to God and live in faithfulness to Him. Certainly, he understood that no such person existed among the Canaanites. Having his servant pass his hand between Abraham's thighs is a way of remembering the sealing of the Abrahamic covenant in GN 15: 17, in which God passed a torch and a firepot between pieces of sacrificial meat on the altar. The old servant took this vow very seriously indeed, and as a result, Rebecca emerged to be Isaac's wife. The cosmic purpose in this can be seen in the fact that Isaac was Abraham's "son of the promise," and it was out of this that the line leading to Christ's birth was continued.
PRAYER: O Lord, our need for having integrity in our lives with regard to the making and keeping of promises and vows is essential. The immediate value is more obvious to us than the cosmic one. Nothing Your Son ever said or did was out of sync with You or Your will. He warned people in the Sermon on the Mount that we need to be careful and thoughtful about the vows we make, because of the negative consequences of breaking them. Lying, trickery, force, duplicity, and the like are abhorrent to You. Each of us has a purpose for our life, one that is both immediate and cosmic. Because we can't know the cosmic purpose, how important to You and to the future of mankind our decisions and acts are, we are warned by You to think through any vow we make before it escapes our mouths. JER 1: 4-5a gives us insight about Your purpose for our lives. "The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart….'" Along the way, we have been exposed to important vows You want us to take. Here of two of them: PS 71: 16-17, the vow to witness, "I will come and proclaim Your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord; I will proclaim your righteousness, Yours alone. Since my youth, O God, You have taught me, to this day, I declare Your marvelous deeds;" PS 86, 12-13, the vow to praise, "I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever. For great is Your love toward me; You delivered me from the depths of the grave." We are imperfect sinners, Dear Lord, and we confess our sins and ask for compassion and mercy from You. We pledge today that we will make every effort not to dishonor Your name with making faulty, mean-spirited, or useless vows. We will try to keep our promises and not make promises we can't keep. Most of all, we will make every effort to stop lying, cheating, or theft of any kind. You deserve our praise and thanks for your patience and love. In Christ's holy name, we pray. Amen.
Our Lord gave us the greatest gift of all, His life on the cross for our salvation. God wasn't finished with just that. He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and create His Kingdom on earth. We were forgiven and justified, deemed righteous in His eyes and given a new life in Christ. Our loving God holds nothing back from us, which is ample reason for us to compare our own personal integrity to that of Christ, to see where we need to make changes in it to more closely conform to His. While doing this may not be easy for some, it is entirely necessary. God has equipped us to make these changes. The issue of integrity is so important that I'm led not to end writing about it here. So, next week's message will also deal with this vital issue of importance to both us and the Lord Himself. God knows the content of our hearts. He has already spoken to us in MT 5: 3 by saying "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God." We must know our need for His direction in our lives, His patience for those making a real effort to reform, and His eagerness to bless us who believe, are obedient, and live lives of faithful righteousness in Christ. God's mercy and compassion are unparalleled. PS 25: 1, 6 is an appropriate conclusion to this devotion. "To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul: in You I trust, O my God….Remember, O Lord, Your great mercy and love, for they are from old."
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn