Promises, promises

Earlier today on Bellshill Salvation Army Band’s Facebook page I shared some devotions. I’d like to share those devotions with you tonight.

I wonder how many times in our lives we make promises to ourselves, to others or to God. Promises that at the time, we sincerely intend to keep. God also has made promises, promises that he never fails to keep. Can the same be said about us, and the promises we make?

Unfortunately, the saying “I’m only human” has come about for a reason: We are all human, we all have faults, and thanks to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we all sin. We as people are not able to do everything perfectly, and sometime that includes keeping our promises – no matter whether they are promises to ourselves, to others, or even promises we’ve made to God.

If you know that you can’t guarantee anything, what does the Bible say about making promises to God? Should you even be making them at all? 

Here’s how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments. If someone claims, “I know him well!” but doesn’t keep his commandments, he’s obviously a liar. His life doesn’t match his words. But the one who keeps God’s word is the person in whom we see God’s mature love. This is the only way to be sure we’re in God.

1 John 2:2-5 (The Message)

As christians we are called to have faith in God’s word, even in the toughest of times. But because we can trust God and be reassured that God always keeps his promises, we must be thankful to God, and try to keep the promises we have made to God.

When we make promises, because we’re human, there’s always a possibility that we may not keep them. When this happens, we let down whoever we made that promise to. Luckily for us, God knows we’re going to make mistakes, because we’re only human. he knows we’re going to need to be forgiven. Thankfully God has promised to love us unconditionally no matter what, even if we break a few promises we have made.

When I think of the promises I have made to God, I always find the words of the song, “O Jesus, I Have Promised To serve Thee To The End” come to mind (to the tune ‘Aurelia’). They remind me not only of the promises I have made to God, but also family members who faithfully served God to the very end of their lives.

I therefore pray today that I will follow the example set my family members who are no longer here, and faithfully serve God all my life. Are you willing and ready to keep your promises to serve God all your days?

O Jesus, I have promised
To serve thee to the end,
Be thou for ever near me,
My Master and my friend.
I shall not fear the battle
If thou art by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway,
If thou wilt be my guide.

O let me feel thee near me;
The world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle,
The tempting sounds I hear.
My foes are ever near me,
Around me and within;
But, Jesus, draw thou nearer
And shield my soul from sin.

O let me hear thee speaking
In accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion,
The murmurs of self-will.
O speak to reassure me,
To chasten or control;
O speak to make me listen,
Thou Guardian of my soul.

O Jesus, thou hast promised
To all who follow thee,
That where thou art in Glory,
There shall thy servant be;
And, Jesus, I have promised
To serve thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow,
My Master and my friend.