From The Pastor’s Pen – By Brian Horrobin
Have you ever found yourself in a situation in your life that was so dire that you made some sort of plea deal with God?
You know, it sounds something like this: “Lord, I’m desperate and reeeealy in need of Your help right now. I promise that if You get me out of this I will… (fill in the blank with whatever outlandish and far-fetched promise fits).”
Of course, what often happens is that things end up working out, the pressure is off, and the promise goes unfulfilled, possibly because it was too far-reaching to begin with.
However, the point I am trying to make is that we should do everything in our power to keep the promises we make.
Consider the words of Psalm 66:13-14: “I will come to Your temple with burnt offerings and fulfill my vows to You – vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble.”
Oh yes, don’t kid yourself.
Our lips promise and our mouths speak some pretty amazing things when we’re in the heat of the moment.
Emotions can sometimes get the better of us when we are in a tight spot to the point that we will make bold promises that we never intend to deliver on later.
However, it takes integrity to keep your word when it’s a difficult thing to do so.
Psalm 15:4 tells us that the blameless man is the one who “keeps his oath even when it hurts.”
I like to put it this way.
If I promise to do something with someone and then a little while later a better offer comes along, then the right thing to do is stick with the original plan.
There’s some short term pain in a decision like that but it results in long term gain for your character.
