Perhaps
one of the most subtle things satan does to deceive us away from God, and from
serving others with Godly integrity, is working to keep us from realizing the cost
of NOT doing what we say we are going to do.
Let's take, for instance, the popular phrase, or commonly-used "sign-off",
"I'll pray for you." How many times
do we hear that statement, in a "see-ya-later" kind of voice, and
from someone closing a conversation with a fellow Christian brother or sister? How many times do we make that statement
ourselves, then go on about our day, week, and month, and not think about the
commitment we had made, or even remember it, again?
Not
long ago, Brenda and I attended a special ceremony to observe a change of
leadership for a local organization we work with in ministry on occasion. At the end of the ceremony, as we went
through the receiving line, we waited to shake hands with one of the primary
national directors over the local organization.
As the person ahead of us finished talking and prepared to move on down
the line, he reached out his hand and closed by saying, "Sir, I'll be
praying for you." Brenda reached
out, shook his hand next, and shared how grateful we were to see that he was
able to be here for this special leadership transition, and added that we pray
God bless him for his support. Being that
Brenda and I had been discussing the subject of what the gentleman had said
ahead of us, the subject of this blog, I took the opportunity to have a little
bit of fun with him, saying, "Brother, I won't say, 'I'll be praying for
you' because I probably won't." He looked
at me and, I could see by the look on his face, he was briefly puzzled by my
making that comment. Within just
seconds, I could see that a light went on, when, with a big smile on his face,
he replied, "I'm glad, because I probably won't be praying for you
either." We both agreed that, when we
hear someone telling someone else that they are going to be praying for them,
the first thing we think is, "Lord, I hope with all of my heart that that
person truly understands the crucial importance of not breaking a commitment or
vow."
Jesus
blessed us with wisdom concerning this in Luke 14:28-30, "For which of you, intending to build a
tower, stitch not down first, and counts the cost, whether he have sufficient
to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath
laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to
mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish." Though we are not talking about the
construction of a tower, we are discussing the crucial importance of making
sure, before we ever commit to praying for someone, that we have taken the time
to learn about the needs of that particular person so we are able to pray for
them effectively. Remember, good
intentions will never make up for failure to follow through with our verbal
commitment to others.
When
we tell God or anyone else that we are going to do something, and then turn
around and not fulfill that commitment, we not only inflict pain on the one we
committed to, but we reveal the lack of integrity operating in our lives. To any of the people who heard you commit, and
then observe your subsequent failure to honor that commitment, it does not
matter what your intentions were. The
result is the same as if you had deliberately misled them.
It
is easy to say to someone that we are going to pray for them. That person doesn't know one way or the other
if we actually do what we promised them, or not. On the other hand, however, God does know,
... every vow we make.
When
Jesus teaches us of the crucial importance of counting the cost of whatever we
commit to doing, He teaches us that it is vital that we calculate whether or
not we can keep the vow, and do so before we have made the vow. Why? It
is because, in the eyes of Jesus Christ, whatever we have done "even to the
least of His brethren," whether we have kept our word or not, we have done
it to Him, personally! This is what we
must be aware of, and ask The Lord to help us remember always, as Jesus says in
Matthew 25:40, "And the King shall
answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it
unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." A person who says one thing and does another
is a detriment to God and to everyone around them!
It
boils down to this: If you are going to tell someone that you will do something,
you had better think it through very carefully before you make the commitment. A broken vow is an offense that carries a very
stiff sentence in the eyes of God. Do
not be deceived by the use of the word “vow". This can be something as simple as our telling
someone that we are going to pray for them, but we do not—or our telling
someone that we will call, stop by, or do something else for them, then we do
not. This especially includes honoring
our words concerning punctuality. When
we say we are going to be at a certain place at a certain time, we need to keep
the commitment to the T (as in Time). If
we find we will not make it at the time we committed to, at the very least, we
should let the others know as soon as we can.
Even our worship depends upon this.
“But the hour cometh, and now is,
when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for
the Father seeketh such to worship Him.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit
and in truth.” (John 4:23-24)
There
is no way around it. Integrity must be
the hallmark of our lives, in order for us to effectively model ourselves after
God, and to verbally represent the Word of God to people! We must speak the truth and live the truth. Do not say you are going to do something, and
then not follow through. Whenever a
person says one thing but does another, it is lying and will be judged as
such. Listen to the warning Jesus gives
us concerning vows that are made in passing, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they
shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and
by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36-37) We must make sure our yea means yea and our
nay means nay.
We
pray that this message encourages you, and reminds you to S-T-O-P and COUNT THE
COST of what you say and how you follow through. Make sure to ask yourself daily, "Have I
made an account of prayers I've committed to today, and am I making sure I
really mean whatever it is that I say?
THANK
YOU for connecting with us today! Also,
we appreciate you downloading copies of this blog to share with others, and a
copy to keep handy for yourself! 
We
pray God bless you greatly as you have greatly blessed us and the entire Toward The Mark Family!
In
Christ Jesus,
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