The Importance of Vows

Read
Deuteronomy 23:21-23
If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin.  But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty.  Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth.  (NIV)

Reflect

These verses have always spoke deep into my heart. There is a seriousness about making a vow before God. Even if we take it lightly it is clear that God has an expectation that we should not be slack about our vows before him.

For example, you are in a tight spot and you promised God you would quit a particular habit. Then the trouble disappears and behold your commitment about your habit also seems to disappear. You might argue, “That was a promise made under much stress. Besides, no one was there to hear the vow, so it didn’t really count, right?”

What matters is not who heard your vow, but that you made it. No one forced you. Besides, you brought God into the picture. Christians know that they live in God’s presence and that their words reflect on God himself. According to this text all our words count – especially our vows.

Because a vow is voluntary, then it seems we should control our tongues and only make vows we fully intend to keep. Standing by the promises you make, as long as they are honorable, is good self-discipline. It is also a good way to build character and reputation. Wise people understand the significance of trust and keeping one’s word.

What vows have you made? To be faithful to your spouse? To be loyal to your church’s support and attendance? To be a law-abiding citizen? To watch your kids’, play their home games? To spend evenings with family members three times a week?

My wife says that, “A promise made, is a debt unpaid.” Let’s be wise, pay all our “promise” debts and not make liars out of ourselves.

Pray
Help me to be wise, Lord, in the words I speak and the promises I make. Give me strength to be a promise-keeper and, above all, to be faithful to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

No Boasting, No Vaunting

Read
1 Corinthians 1: 26-31

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
Verse 13:4 (NIV)

Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.                                                                                                                         Verse 13:4 (KJV)

Reflect
The old King James Version of the Bible, sometimes uses words that give fuller meaning than the words we use today. The KJV uses these words in 1 Corinthians 13:4: “Charity vaunteth”. The word vaunteth means to shout out your own prowess, to express your vanity. It can include showing off after besting an opponent, and smirking as you walk by a defeated rival.

We boast for a lot of reasons. We want to be affirmed, and affirmation can be a good thing. But when that becomes our key motivation, when we do anything to gain the approval of others – that means we’ll do anything except show love because life is all about me.

It is not unlike going out to dinner with someone who you are getting to know and then you spend the entire evening talking about yourself. At the end of the evening you realize it has been all about you and nothing else. So, you say to this new friend; I am sorry. I have been talking all about myself tonight. Why don’t you talk a bit about me before the night is over?

The Greek word translated “boast” or “vaunt” comes from a root meaning “windbag.” When we boast, we spew a kind of foul hot air that comes from inner conceit.

Love is not a windbag. It doesn’t demand that its accomplishments be noticed. It doesn’t need to dominate a conversation. It can be happy if someone else shines while it stands quietly on the sidelines.

Pray
Father in heaven, let us rest in your accomplishments: in creation, on the cross, and at the resurrection. Help us to boast only in what you have done for us. Help me to be content in who you made me to be. Amen.

Restored Vision

Read
Acts 9:10 – 19 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord – Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here – has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, … Verses 17-18 (NIV)

Reflect
In your spiritual journey have you ever encountered a Christian who knew everything? He had all the right answers, all the right interpretation, all the right theology and it seemed your views had no value whatsoever. We used to call him “Brother Sandpaper” because he rubbed everyone the wrong way.

Before he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, Saul had been sure he had perfect vision and all the answers about God. Saul had been a Pharisee, part of an elite group of Jewish legal experts who believed they had special status with God. When Ananias brought the Lord’s message and Saul received the Holy Spirit, Saul “could see again”! The blindness he had experienced for three days was gone – and so was his spiritual blindness.

Those Christians who think they have 20/20 vision and can answer all your questions seem to miss the concept of humility woven within the gospel. Of course, none of us has perfect vision, and no one has all the answers. Even Old Testament Job, who was “blameless and upright” according to the Bible, had to admit that there was much he did not understand. He confessed that he had limited vision, saying to the Lord, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you” (Job 42:5).

We too need to humble ourselves before the Lord and ask him to remove any “scales” from our eyes so that we can see him and serve him faithfully.!

Pray
Lord God, give us humility and help us to see you clearly so that we can live fully for you. Forgive us for acting as if we know everything about things we don’t understand. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

His Mission, Our Mission

Read 
Matthew 13:3-9; 18-23 
“When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart.” Verse 19 (NIV) 

Reflect 
The title of this devotional should be creating some memory cells to be firing in some of your minds. For many years this was the vision statement of our denomination: His Mission, Our Mission. It was a call to be like Jesus and to serve like Jesus in the task of bringing the Good News to our world. 

This parable is very well known. Jesus tells the story of a farmer spreading seed – good seed at the time of planting. The good seed falls on a variety of soils: fertile soil, rocky soil, pathway soil and weedy soil. 

Though Jesus explains this parable to his disciples, we still wonder about many things. What exactly does it look like when the seed falls on good soil and produces a crop, “yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown”? We really want to know if we are the good soil, producing the bountiful harvest Jesus describes. Are we good enough to produce 100-fold or just 30fold?  

Throughout his ministry Jesus gives many clues on what a life that produces a significant harvest might look like, but we can also consider the mission Jesus claims in Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” 

What we need to concern ourselves with is not how large the harvest is but rather that we are called to be like Jesus; his mission is our mission. And the Holy Spirit has been given to us, so we are called to go out and do the same. 

Pray 
Jesus, thank you for your Word! Thank you for your Spirit! I pray that my life will produce an abundant harvest for you, and that I may serve in your name. Amen. 

But Not Them

Read 
Matthew 13:10-17 
“The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.” Verse 11 (NIV) 

Reflect 
I remember well spending extra evenings at language school trying to figure out some of our lessons. Naomi caught on right away, but Kiswahili was going to take some time to sink into my brain. When we got to Nygezi, Tanzania, where we would work and live, the constant exposure to the language finally made the lessons from school understandableEven though I became quite comfortable conversing in Kiswahili, I realized in a short time that I would not be able to preach in Kiswahili because Biblical terminology  (things like sin, righteousness, grace, redemption, etc.) was not part of everyday conversational speech and the flow of a sermon was completely different than having a conversation. 

Our verse for today is stated in a slightly different way in the gospel of Mark. In Mark 4:11, Jesus states, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables.” 

Jesus called his disciples, and they followed along with him as their teacher. They were willing to spend time with him and learn from him constantly. In fact, they spent all their time with him, and eventually they learned and began to understand his purposes. They knew what it meant to live continuously in his presence. 

To those who are willing to live fully in his kingdom, Jesus gives the secrets of the kingdom. But all who are not willing to turn to Jesus, and to ask and learn why he has come, will stand at the edge of the kingdom, unable to understand the nuances, the mysteries, the fulness of love that flows from the Father in heaven. 

Do you need to press further in? Do you need to spend more time listening to the whispers that Jesus speaks to your heart? He wants us to turn to him and be forgiven, and to have life to the full! This is the only condition for life in his kingdom. 

Pray 
Lord Jesus, help me to press into you and immerse myself in the full life of your kingdom. In your name, Amen.