Pay Your Vow

Have you ever made a promise and then broken it? Or perhaps made a careless or empty promise? Maybe you gave it your all but still couldn’t fulfill a promise? Regardless, we’ve all made promises, we’ve all kept promises, and we’ve all broken promises. Life teaches you early that keeping promises is very hard.

For instance, my sister often struggled to understand that, despite their best intentions, our parents couldn’t always keep their promises. It was a real challenge for her. I can’t count how many times she would lament, “But you promised!” only for my mom to reply with something like, “We tried, but it just didn’t work out,” “We can’t do that right now as we’d hoped,” or “Something unexpected came up.” The hardest for her to hear, though, was, “We forgot—we’re sorry.” It became such a pressure point for my sister that eventually my parents just in general stopped making promises to her unless they were 99.9% sure they could keep it. Instead, they started using phrases like “we’ll see” or “we’ll try” or “maybe” to avoid disappointing her.

So, promises can be complicated. Life often gets in the way of keeping them. Sometimes, we make them without thinking, and worse yet, there are times when we don’t even care that we’ve made them. That’s why my parents always taught me to never make a promise unless I genuinely intended to keep it. Life might get in the way sometimes, but they emphasized that when you make a promise, you must do your absolute best to follow through.

Why is it that we can grasp the importance of keeping earthly promises but struggle to apply the same principle to the promises we make to God? Solomon teaches it is imperative for us to have this attitude when we make promises and vows to God. Building off his discussion of how we should talk to God (don’t be hasty with your words), Solomon says:

When you make a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear. – Eccl. 5: 4-7

Solomon tells us plainly – when you make a promise to God do not delay in keeping it because God does no pleasure in fools. We should not make promises to God and then drag our feet about working to keep them. Don’t make a promise or resolution to God about your spiritual life and then hesitate or delay in following through.

🤞 Did you make a resolution to pray more? Get busy creating a prayer schedule.

🤞 Did you promise to read your Bible more? Find a reading plan. Get a reading devotional. Make an actionable plan to read your Bible more.

🤞 Did you vow you would stop engaging in a particular sinful practice? Remove the temptations that relate to that sin. Create godly alternatives to fill your time or mind.

🤞 Did you promise to teach or evangelism more? Figure out how to interact with more people or create opportunities to meet more people.

🤞 Did you resolve to be more generous with your blessings? Make a plan for each month of how you intend to share those blessings.

🤞 Did you vow to attend worship services and Bible studies more consistently? Free up your schedule, set your alarms, and go.

🤞 Did you promise to build a closer relationship with God? Define what that means and incorporate new ways each day to connect with God through His word.

Ultimately, Solomon teaches us that God expects us to fulfill our vows and keep our promises. In fact, he warns that God would rather we not make promises at all than fail to keep them. Breaking a promise to God is a sin—“Let not your mouth lead you into sin.” Don’t let your words run ahead of your intentions, and avoid making grand, unrealistic promises—“pipe dream” commitments—with no real plan or intention to keep them. Why? Solomon reminds us: “Words are many, but it is God you must fear.”

Did you make a vow to God at the start of this year? Was it made without much thought or without a real plan to follow through? Regardless, you’ve made it, and God expects you to honor it. Keep your word to God and fulfill your vow. #KeepYourWord