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Have you ever heard the phrase “your word is your bond?” When someone uses this phrase, it means they are looking for you to keep your word at all costs.  Doesn’t matter if it’s hard, painful, or an inconvenience.  If you and I say something we must hold true to carrying out what we said.  This phrase also means integrity.  Although nowadays it seems like the word integrity is becoming nonexistence.  There was a specific weekend I told my mom since I hadn’t been home in a while that I would come home the following Sunday, bring a few friends with me, and have Sunday dinner with my family. 

My mom was excited and was patiently awaiting the following Sunday. Now, my mother is the kind of lady that whatever you say to her she expects you to keep your word.  The following weekend came.  Just my luck there was a party on campus that Saturday night.  My friends and I went and stayed out super late.  Soo late that I wasn’t even thinking about taking the 2 ½ hour drive home for dinner.  Around 1:30pm I get a phone call from my mom asking where I was.  Sounding confused; she said did you forget that you were to come home for dinner.

I said no, but I was too tired to drive home.  WHY Holy Spirit did I say that?  My mom was so upset with me.  She said, I cooked all this food, did all this preparation, and so on so forth.  I stopped my mom mid-sentence and said I am on the way.  I quickly got out of the bed, went to my friend’s room, and asked if they wanted to go and get some home cook food?  They all said yes and within 30 minutes we were on the road heading home.  When we arrived, I expected to be greeted with a mean mug, but to my surprise she was happy that we came.

In that moment I realized the importance of keeping my word.  It’s about respecting the commitment you made to someone and having enough respect for myself to follow through.  This lesson learned wasn’t just about my word to my mom, but to anyone.  As my mom says, “your word is all you have”.  When that is gone there isn’t much more left.  The same holds true regarding our interaction with God.  We each need to be careful about the vow or promise we make to God.  We need to ensure that whatever we tell God we move forward in fulfilling the expectation that we’ve set with him; no matter what it cost us.

In the book of Judges Chapter 11, we meet a fellow named Jephthah the Gileadite, who was the son of a harlot.  The harlot bore other sons who later kicked Jephthah out and took his inheritance because he had a different father than that of his siblings.  Sometime had passed and the people of Ammon made war with Israel.  The elders of Gilead wanted Jephthah to be their commander to fight against the people of Ammon. 

With hesitation Jephthah agreed if the Lord delivered the people of Ammon to him.  Later in the chapter around verse 30 you will see that Jephthah made a vow to the Lord saying “If you will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” Now, WAIT A MINUTE, WAIT A MINUTE, and WAIT A MINUTE…. If you are going to make this kind of vow to God, you must be sure you know what is in your house that will meet you and that you would be ok offering it to God as a burnt offering.

Well, the Lord delivered the people of Ammon into his hands.  If I allow my imagination to wonder I’m sure Jephthah was on a high.  Like yea, God did just what I asked.  Unfortunately, Jephthah still had to fulfill his promise to God.  If you were to continue to read this chapter, you will see that what or should I say who greeted Jephthah is not what he was expecting.  His daughter greeted him with timbre and dancing.  His burnt offering was his child. 

Ecclesiastes 5:5 says, “It is better not to make a promise than to make one and not keep it.”  My best advice is to not make a promise, but if you must ensure you keep it.  You know we can have the best intentions and for whatever reason something prohibits us from delivering.  When we don’t keep our promise, it communicates we don’t value the commitment that we made.  Even small broken promises communicate our lack of commitment and the ability for others to count on us.  Guard yourself against broken promises and commitments.

Ease & Stillness,

Chetoca B.