Thursday, June 23, 2011

Making A Vow To God

I enjoy so much talking to the Lord, I love to go to my quiet place and be with Him and Him only. That special place I have gives me the opportunity to just sit there and talk over with Him things that may be bothering me or things I just want to thank Him for. This is a time for just God and me and I love talking with Him so much.


My quiet place is where I can see all the things God have made for us to enjoy. I love nature and animals and God has blessed me so much in these areas. I see some deer, birds, squirrels, and occasionally an opossum; I love seeing them and can't help but thank the Lord for each of these. We have been blessed this year with a family of swallows just outside our back door, we were able to watch the parents build the nest, take care of the eggs, know when the babies hatched, and now we are watching the babies grow. One day we will be able to see them fly and the season of this will be gone. I know to some this isn't a big deal but when it is something a person enjoys it is a big deal to them.

I started out by telling you about me talking to the Lord and I managed to wander off from it, so getting back to that. How many of you talk with the Lord? Do you always say what you mean or does it just come out of your mouth?

Ecclesiastes 5:4-6; "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. v. 5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. v. 6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands"?

Do you realize a vow made to God is a promise and must be kept? It would be better not to make a vow to God than to make one and not keep it. When you have made a vow to God you cannot go back so that means you must carry this vow out. You can't go just part way with it but you have to pay it in full. If we don't pay our vow it is making a fool of God. We also wrong ourselves as when we don't carry out what we have vowed we have lied to God. Remember it is better not to make a vow/promise to God than to make one and not carry it out.

If you make a vow to God and then have second thoughts about it your mouth has caused you to sin. Whatever you have promised God needs to be fulfilled. Don't give excuses for not wanting to carry out the promise. God does not like lies and by promising something to God and not carrying through is telling God a lie. Lying to God may bring severe punishment.

When we have our quiet time with the Lord we should always remember never to make a promise to Him unless we KNOW we can keep it. I have found when I am having my quiet time with the Lord I never make a promise to Him that I haven't thought through and talked to Him about it. I know He will help me to make the right decision on whether I should make a promise to Him or not. To be honest, if I think a promise is too big to keep I start praying about it to make sure I WILL be able to keep it; I never want to lie to the Lord. By talking to Him about a promise He will help me to make the right choice so that I won't lie to Him.

May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!

5 comments:

Debi said...

Guess I'll be thinking before I open my mouth when talking to God...I certainly don't want my mouth to cause me to sin. The hard thing is...so often we say something and don't realize we are actually making a 'vow' to God. We must be careful of the words we speak, not only to God but to others as well. Our tongue can be our downfall for sure!

Thank you, Mama, for this great reminder to 'keep my tongue.' Love you.

Jenifer Metzger said...

Thank you for this reminder. I love my quiet time with God and I love to praise Him. I also do not want to make promises I am not going to keep.

Phather Phil Malmstrom said...

I love my "Stillness Sabbaticals" with God as well Deane, and find that so many things become clearer in those moments of communion. And you're completely correct, it's very important not to allow ourselves to overstep and make vows we can't live by. We honor Him by staying true to our promises.

Have a Blessed Day!

Kandi said...

Deane,

I love my quiet time with the Lord, I find that when I don't start my day by talking to Him my day is all out of sorts. I am going to have to start being more mindful of what I say, like Debi I may say something and not realize I am making a promise to God.

Blessings,

Kandi

Dustin Cannon said...

Wonderful and thoughtful article. How many of us have carelessly made vows to God at times of desperation only to forget when things got better?