Keep your word

The story goes that, a couple of hundred years ago, Spanish conqueror Hernando Corts arrived in the Americas and took his crew ashore. They watched in confusion and horror as he set fire to all their ships. By destroying the ships, Corts was ensuring his men had no alternative but to commit fully to the conquest.

How often do we have such a clear sense of commitment? In the world of Edit-Undo (shoutout to Ctrl-Z), and thanks to the little 'x' in the corner of our Facebook posts, we're closer to being able to 'un-say' something than in any other time in history. And, when our lives get to busy, how often do we say, 'Oh, sorry, I did promise I'd do that, but something has come up'? Hmmm.

If we promise something, especially to God, he's very keen that we stand by our word, and that we make commitments that stand up against distractions. Not all the promises we make are sensible or easy ones. When we make a well-meaning promise we regret making, we're left to decide if keeping it is the most important thing. It's difficult. Even more so if we make that promise to God. The motivator should be, 'Would keeping this promise deepen my relationship with Jesus, and/or help this world see him?' If in doubt, just ask him what is important.



So what now? What's something you promised to do that you haven't done yet? Get on to it before the day is out.





— SCRIPTURE —

'I will not take back one word of what I said.' Psalm 89:34 TLB
— SOULFOOD —

Micah 1-4, John 19:17-30, Ps 105:16-22, Pro 30:10-14