Throughout this I have been careful to avoid directly referencing commitments that we make to God. I realize that not everyone who reads this believes what I believe. For those of you who do not follow Christ you may consider this a way to hold accountable those of us who do.
Eccl 5:4 When you make a promise to God, don't be slow to keep it because God doesn't like fools. Keep your promise.
So Dear Reader we must always consider those commitments when we act, think, or breathe. Jesus made this much simpler for us:
Mat 5:33-37
"You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'Never break your oath, but give to the Lord what you swore in an oath to give him.' But I tell you don't swear an oath at all. Don't swear an oath by heaven, which is God's throne, Or by the earth, which is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, which is the city of the great King. And don't swear an oath by your head. After all, you cannot make one hair black or white. Simply say yes or no. Anything more than that comes from the evil one.
When we say yes to what Christ asks of us we are bound to
it. We come up with many reasons,
excuses, and pretenses as to why we do not need to keep our commitment to God
but the truth is they are useless. We
even fool ourselves into believing that unbelief will free us from our
commitments. We think that because God
is slow to call in our debt of commitment that he will not.
Whether we continue to sing in the choir or abandon our faith altogether our commitments to God are still alive. It I say yes to follow Christ it means I say yes to all of it. I take up the cross. I follow when it is easy and when it kills me. I keep my commitment when I doubt or when my faith roars like a lion.
The measure of who I am is forged in my faithfulness to my commitment to Christ. I have failed so often that I still feel shame when I think about it. I have markers I have placed in my life to help not forget my vows to God. I have daily reminders that I have bound my life to Christ and am wholly his. I carry the symbol of my oath with me always. I have said yes to Christ and do not wish to be a fool.
There are daily temptations to be other than what I have committed to be in Christ. I could have many things I desire if I simply leave behind my fealty. Darkness and false light both offer me solace if I will only abandon my faith for something less restricting.
I have broken oaths, promises, vows, and commitments. I know the bitter taste of those acts coming home to roost. I know what it is to be the fool who has broken faith with God. When tempted to abandon faith for some more convenient I have only one response: “I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.”
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening – Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
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