Day 65 - Deuteronomy 23-25

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 65 - Deuteronomy 23-25 (Don't Make a Vow You Can't Keep)
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"When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you.  But if you abstain from vowing, it shall not be sin to you.  That which has gone from your lips you shall keep and perform, for you voluntarily vowed to theLord your God what you have promised with your mouth."  (Deuteronomy 23:21-23)

Many well-meaning and God-loving people during moments of either desperation or inspiration, make vows to God that they were not able to keep.  For example, a person who is in a serious trouble makes a vow to give something to God if He gets him out of his bind but then does not make good on his promise after God helps him.  In today's text, God tells us that we must surely follow thru on our vows to Him without delay.  By including the phrase without delay, God is removing any excuse that we may present to Him for postponing to fulfill our vows.

God said that the reason why He commands us to fulfill our vows to Him is because He "will will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you."  God takes our vows to Him seriously; how serious?  An illustration from marriage may help us understand.  When a groom vows to be faithful to his bride and then later on breaks his vows, the wife naturally is devastated.  If a human being could feel such pain when a vow made to her is broken, how much more hurt is God when we break the vow we made to Him?

Thankfully, God gives us a way of avoiding the sin of breaking a vow to Him: don't make a vow, duh.  In other words, it is better not to make a vow than to make a vow with the slightest chance of breaking it.  Jesus taught about the same thing in His sermon on the mount:   "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.  But let your "Yes' be "Yes,' and your "No,' "No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one. (Matthew 5:33-37)

So what does this all mean to me, you may ask.  Simply this: if you have made a vow to God, fulfill it or else be prepared to face the consequences; and henceforth from today, it is better for you not to make a vow to God than to do so and fail to fulfill it.  I would add my own opinion here, though; it would be best if you can make a vow to God that you resolve with all your heart to keep because then it will redound to the glory of God.  

One example of a vow made to God by Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkanah, who was barren with child and who made a vow to God to dedicate her son to God as priest should God grant her one.  God honored her vow and granted her a son whom she named Samuel and who became the last judge of Israel and who anoited Israel's first two kings, namely, Saul and David.

If you think you can keep a vow you make to God just like Hannah did, may God give you all power to do so and to God be the glory!