September 10 Careful Consideration

It is a trap to dedicate something rashly and only later consider your vows. ~Proverbs 20:25 

Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. ~Judges 11:30-32, 34 

LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your Holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken. ~Psalm 15 

Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, “Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.” But I tell you, do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your “yes,” be “yes,” and your “no,” be “no,”; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. ~Matthew 5:33-37 

In Genesis 15, an interesting event takes place between God and Abram that we should take notice of here. God has Abram bring together certain animals and Abram cuts them in half and arranges them in the way that covenants between two people were made in that day. When two people wanted to make a lasting agreement between them, it was common to use animals such as a ram or a goat, cut it in half and then, the two people who were making an agreement would walk between the two halves of the animals to seal their agreement by saying to each other, “May what has happened to these animals be my fate if I break the commitment that I am making with you this day.” 

It was a pretty standard ceremonial way of sealing a deal. In the agreement between God and Abram, however, Abram falls asleep and God passes through the pieces of the animals alone, holding only Himself to the commitment to prosper Abram, bless him with children and provide for his future and his future offspring. God did not allow Abram to walk through for his part. Why? Because God knew Abram too well. He knew that, in the moment Abram would commit himself to God. But God also knew of Abram’s frailty and inability to keep his promise perfectly and that a promise broken before God would mean certain death. God knew that only He is able to fully keep His promises and commitments and covenants. So, in love, He wouldn’t let Abram make a commitment he couldn’t keep. 

Unfortunately, rash promises are pretty typical in the ways of man. We make pledges and commitments, without knowing the future and then, circumstances arise that make us wish we hadn’t, or wish we could change the terms, or get out of the agreement altogether. In most situations, gone are the days of, “My word is my bond.” 

Remember the days of the handshake? Well, eventually, that didn’t work very well so written contracts came along. Later, contracts were created with exit clauses and contingency agreements and, I’m not sure there really is such a thing as an iron clad agreement in reality anymore. We would like there to be, but without knowing of a certain future, those types of commitments are hard to keep.

“It is a trap to dedicate something rashly and only later consider your vows.” Jephthah certainly learned this the hard way. He just wanted to win so badly, to be the hero, to save face, that he was willing to do anything! We get into those types of situations where we think that nothing can be as bad as what we’re experiencing, so we make rash promises, in the moment without thinking it through. 

I remember a MASH episode in which a soldier is talking to Father Mulcahy, after surgery. The soldier confesses, “Father, while I was in the fox hole, I promised God that if he would get me out of this, I’d become a priest.” The Father smiled and said, “Yes my son?” Soldier, “Father, I don’t want to become a priest.” In the fear of the moment, the soldier was willing to promise what he thought would be the most impressive. He just wanted to live! Afterwards, however, in the safety of the recovery room, he didn’t really want to keep that commitment. 

It’s interesting in Psalm 15, that one of the requirements of those who may live in the Lord’s sanctuary is that they will keep their vow even when it hurts. That may be admirable, yet Jesus advises, rather: “Simply let your “yes,” be “yes,” and your “no,” be “no,” anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” Why? When Jesus was saying don’t swear at all, and don’t invoke these higher powers to back you up, he was talking about prideful and superstitious ways of buttressing our credibility with the person or people we wish would believe us. Besides knowing what God knew with Abram, that what you promise may not be possible to keep, Jesus was saying it is rash and presumptive to use God and his attributes for our own purposes. 

It is better to let your intent be known, but always leave room for adjustments along the way. Kathy and I have a friend who cared for his mother in his declining years. While the mother was still relatively healthy, he made a promise to her that she would never leave her home. We would have advised that it would have been better for him to promise that he would always take care of her, but he committed to never having her leave her home. We watched a very painful situation unfold as he was determined to keep that promise and was not willing to consider alternatives. It took a huge toll on his marriage and possibly, physically on his mother who might have done better in a more supervised situation. 

There are, of course vows that we do make and that we need to see through. Marriage, for example, is one of these and the vow we make to our Lord to follow Him and commit ourselves to Him and live in obedience to Him for our entire life. The proverb here speaks of a “rash,” vow, but that causes us to think about being careful about all that we commit too, what we commit to, how we commit to it, and what we are saying about ourselves when we make it. 

God does not take vows lightly. He considers it sin to break it, which is something He will never do. We can give thanks for that, considering the vow He has made to us. He has promised that He will return and take His own home with Him. He sealed that promise with His blood. Just as God did not require anything of Abram, God only requires of us that we believe it, and live like we believe it, until He returns. 

Prayer: Father thank you for being so perfect that none of Your promises are rash because you are wise in what you promise, and You are able to keep them too. Thank You for the many wonderful promises You have made to us in Scripture that give us hope and blessings. Help me to be careful what I commit to and then determined and disciplined to do keep the good vows I should make. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Song: O Jesus I Have Promised