Daily Bread 2-6-18
The Sermon on the mount(cont'd)
Matthew 5:33-37
33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the lord thine oaths:
34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; ; neither by heaven, for it is God's throne:
35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst make one hair white or black.
37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
ref. - Lv 19:12 - And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.
Nu 30:2 - If a man vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.
Dt 23:23 - That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the Lord thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.
Jas 5:12 - But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay be nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.
Isa 66:1 - Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
Col 4:6 - Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
We make promises and then when we can't keep them we are found to be liars. Christ, once again tells us that the way that men were going about serving the Lord was not working. They were failing him. They would make these great and swelling promises and then something would come upon them and they would fail to carry through with them. So Christ tells us, as followers of him, not to be going about making promises or trying to negotiate with God over things. With him there is no negotiation. As the word says, don't even swear by your hair because you have no control over what is white and what is black. We often think that we have life and that it is a bargaining chip to find what we desire from God. But then we make promises that we cannot keep. Not that our intentions are not good but that we do not know what our level of capability will be from day to day and we do not know what tomorrow brings. So, instead of, "Lord, if you'll do this, I'll do this," we must say Yes Lord, I will do what you have instructed me no matter what the outcome. Let your will be done in my life. Here I am Lord, do with me as you will. You see, our God doesn't need promises or oaths. what he needs is to have free course, day by day, hour by hour, of our lives. In the days of old they were commanded that if you give someone a promise or your word, you keep it. This is still good advice today. But what if you are not capable of keeping your promise? What if circumstances do not allow you to follow through with your oath. It is still an oath, it is still a promise, right? Yes it is, this is why we are instructed not to make promises in heaven or on earth as we have no control over what tomorrow brings. Rather than being the one who let others down or, worse yet, failed God, we must be the ones who say yes when yes is asked of us and no when it should be no. No negotiation, no deals will be made, but yes, no, and Amen! If we can cling to this teaching then we will allow God to have control and our words will become few and our blessings will become many. Let's follow this wonderful instruction from Jesus Christ and move forward and ever closer to our God! Have a great day!!!