Careless Promises

When you make a promise to God, fulfill it without delay because God has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill what you promise. Better not to make a promise than to make a promise without fulfilling it. Don’t let your mouth make a sinner of you, and don’t say to the messenger: “It was a mistake!” Otherwise, God may become angry at such talk and destroy what you have accomplished. Remember: When dreams multiply, so do pointless thoughts and excessive speech. Therefore, fear God. Ecclesiastes 5:4-7 (CEB)

Wow! That is a stern warning! Have you yourself ever said, or heard another person say something like, “Lord, if you get me out of this, I’ll serve you forever”? At the time no more honest words could have been spoken, right? Too often the tendency is to forget quickly once the crisis has past. There are times it is easy to make a vow of dedication, celibacy or even poverty but God has never required such vows of His children.

We are warned not to let our mouths lead us into sin through shattered promises. Do not try to make an excuse of such a promise by saying it was in error or that we didn’t really mean it. Being insincere in our speech is displeasing to God, not to mention disobedience.

His Word plainly says that doing so can cause Him to obstruct, frustrate and destroy everything you try to do. (Believer’s Bible Commentary). Why would one knowingly do something to anger God?

Here is a thought: words become meaningless when they don’t have actions to back them up. Stop presenting verbal fluff. Fear God. Worship Him with a lifestyle of reverence and intentional actions.

Lastly, we are instructed to fear God. What does it mean to fear God? Fearing God simply comes from understanding that God is God. To know God is to fear Him. He is holy. He is unique and in a class all unto Himself. It is only right and proper to have a healthy fear of Him, and only utter foolishness fails to do so. We fear God by simply acknowledging that He is God, and seeing God as God can only result in living a God-centered, not self-centered, life. The knowing and fearing God smashes self-aggrandizement into bits by pointing us to the magnitude of His glorious worth. All of our pretty words and lavish dreams are particles of dust compared to snow-capped mountains of His sovereign decrees. (bcnewton.com)

Don’t bargain with God; don’t let your mouth get you in trouble! Fear God and walk in His grace each and every day and as Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:37 simply, “Let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no. Anything more than this comes from the evil one.” (CEB)

Below is a prayer I found helpful as I studied in preparing this devotion. May it be a prayer for each of us.

You are a promise-making and promise-keeping God. I can always depend on you completely. Thank you for keeping your promises to me. I know you want me to be careful with my words and then stand behind them with actions, but I often fail to do so. Instead, I make excuses or claim that I have changed my mind. I have even told people, earnestly and sincerely, that I will pray for them, only to forget their prayer requests. I openly profess that I will be your devoted follower, but then I don’t keep my word. And that sullies your name. Much worse, I have broken promises I made to you. I remember pledging to never again do a certain sin—but I did. I promised to tithe, to read your Word regularly, to serve others, and to boldly share the Good News, but those statements were soon abandoned. Please do what is necessary to mold me into a person of my word, of truth and integrity.

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