My title for this devotion is Promises Made vs Promises Kept.
Sometimes nostalgia is good. I confess to there being times I will sit and reminisce about days gone by. I won’t say “good old days” because not always were they good old days. Some things are horrific. Some I’d just as soon forget. Maybe it would be more correct to think about when things were simpler, purer, slower, less violent. Days before fighting in the streets, apartheid, pornography, blatant sin…you get the picture.
I also think about promises made. From the joking “pinky swear” and “cross my heart and hope to die” to “I do.” Or “I promise to be faithful to my calling” (whatever it is).
What got me thinking of this? My Scripture reading this morning from Psalm 66. In verse 5 he writes, “Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of men.” And then verses 13-14: “I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you, that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.“ (emphasis mine). See that phrase I highlighted? He’s talking about a promise he made with his mouth. Almost like what we would call a “foxhole promise.” But in these verses, David is saying he is going to keep his promises.
It is easy to make promises; it is totally another thing to keep them. From the “cross my heart” to the “I sincerely promise” i.e. small to big, a promise made is to be a promise kept. God has kept His promises over and over, time and time again. It is important that I keep mine-to Him and to others- and follow His example.
“Father, thank you for keeping your promises at all times. But its not enough to know you keep yours if I don’t keep mine. Promises made; promises kept should be my daily motto. “
Better to utter no words of promise unless we know in our hearts that we can and will keep them. So glad God never goes back on His promises!
Blessings, Bill!