Ecclesiastes 5:4. When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
Well a blessed morning to all you Friends and fellow believers in Christ Jesus! Some of you are still sleeping while I’m here toiling, (smile) but I’ll let you into a li’l secret. This was one morning where the ole fella really didn’t feel like getting up nuh. I went to bed later than planned, doing constructive stuff this time though, and as we like to say, the sleep was sweeeetttt…
When the Lord touched me and whispered, ‘Time to get up son,’ I almost told Him, ‘Forget it yes Lord, not today nuh,’ and roll back over. Hn, Hn!
But one of the worse mistakes we can ever make my brethren, is to promise the Lord to do something for Him, then renege on the promise for some flimsy reason as wanting to sleep. (smile)
So here I am writing my life away, my eyes still full of sleep, since the caffeine hasn’t yet kicked in. Hopefully it’s something sensible and informative. But I’m not worried, because as I prove day after day, our God is wonderfully faithful, and doesn’t give us a task and not help us do it.
How do you think I could be writing this Bit everyday now, into the seventh year? It’s undoubtedly with the plentiful help of our wonderful and faithful God! So here’s to a good, moving, wise and wonderful Bit. I just have to go and find a scripture to base it on now. (smile)
And have I ever found a most appropriate one my people! ‘When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer (delay) not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.’
Now that’s the gospel truth Friends! God definitely dislikes people to make promises and not keep them. And this is not something new, for way back when, He spoke thus to Moses concerning vows and promises.
‘If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond (binding himself by some agreement); he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.’ (Num.30:2)
And just before our Bit, Cousin Sol offers up another choice morsel of wisdom. ‘Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon the earth: therefore let thy words be few. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business (effort or activity); and a fools voice is known by multitude of words.’ (Eccl.5:2-3)
Oh Friends, what wisdom!
The scholars explain that, “The emphasis on the passage is on the folly of an empty religious profession before a sovereign God. God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: God expects sincerity and meaningfulness in worship. He is not impressed with foolish vows.”
And since neither our God or His Word changes, that means all those words should still be ruling our lives today. But unfortunately in today’s society that wisdom has fallen by the wayside. A man’s word is no longer honourable, for promises are only made to be later broken.
And that’s why there’s so little, if any trust in our society, why fraud and fraudulent acts are so prevalent and widespread. People can no longer be trusted to act in a decent, upstanding manner. Our courts are filled with so much litigation concerning contracts we’ve signed in good faith, then refuse to honour.
So what’s the purpose of making a promise or a vow that has no true credibility to it, or that we won’t be held accountable for eh? None whatsoever!
Followers of Jesus are expected to be faithful to their vows and promises…hn! But from some of the stuff that Christians do, you certainly wouldn’t believe that.
But Friends, be warned, that though you can make a promise to your fellow man and break it without suffering any kind of penalty, you CANNOT do that with God. He always delivers on His promises and fully expects us to deliver on ours, unless there are truly extenuating circumstances.
As our Bit says: ‘for he hath no pleasure in fools.’ Yes my brethren, our God doesn’t suffer fools gladly, just like some of us don’t. And if we, mere mortals can have that strong attitude against foolishness and foolish behaviour, you can just imagine how strong God’s resentment of it is.
As our Bit also advises: ‘pay that which thou hast vowed.’ And not only to God, but also to our fellow man.
And if we don’t want to keep promises, then the smartest thing is simply not to make them. ‘Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than thou shouldest vow and not pay.’ (Eccl.5:5)
Words of absolute truth and wisdom my fellow believers!
In this day and age we’re quick to make promises, both to God and man, especially when we’re in trouble. But after either or both have lifted us out of the mire, we completely forget the promises we made in the heat of the moment.
That’s not right, or wise, my Friends! Instead, if we do make commitments in desperate times, then we should always do our best to honour them afterwards.
We should sincerely endeavour to do like the psalmist says: ‘Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy (an abundant) place. I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows (promised deeds), which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.’ (Ps.66:12-14)
Now that’s how a true and faithful Christian ought to behave!
Just like how I couldn’t roll over and go back to sleep this morning, though the body and soul were crying out for it. Because I’ve promised the Lord to write a Bit based on His Word everyday and send it out a reasonable hour, I had to get up regardless of how I felt, and keep my promise.
Therefore Friends, I beseech each and every one of us, today, let’s all take the time to ponder our individual situations, re our vows and promises, both to God and our fellow man, and see where we’re falling down in their proper observance.
And having done that, then let’s turn to both God and man and ask for forgiveness, while making obeisance, restitution and/or whatever is necessary to pay our vows. That’s wisdom and true faith at their height. Much LOVE!
…trust takes a long time to build…but a broken promise quickly destroys that trust…
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