Promises

Saturday, October 01, 2011 Posted by Angie

I was taught growing up that you NEVER make a promise that you can’t keep, especially when it comes to God. My Mom used to quote the following Scripture:

Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 - “When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.”

This verse is backed up in the NT in Matthew 5:33-37:

How many times in our society today do people make promises they can’t keep? They make vows about things that are out of their control, and therefore impossible to be certain of whether they can make it happen. For those who have to live with the broken promises of others, it leaves them feeling insecure, and hesitant to trust again.

So often relationships on earth are translated over into our relationship with God. If we’ve been constantly disappointed and let down by people, we must remind ourselves of what Numbers 23:19 says: “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?”

What a contrast between God and man. He knows we’re weak, unpredictable and often unreliable. He however, is always faithful, trustworthy, and incapable of telling a lie. Therefore, if God makes a promise, He is bound by His own law to keep it. All His promises are yes, and amen.

This week we’re going to look at some of His promises that cannot be broken.