Word for Today / Look Before You Leap!

[ladylovesJesus]

Look Before You Leap!

‘Don’t make rash promises.’ Ecclesiastes 5:2 NLT

When it comes to making commitments and keeping them, Solomon doesn’t mince any of his words: ‘Think before you speak, and don’t make any rash promises to God. He is in Heaven and you are on earth, so don’t say any more than you have to… So when you make a promise to God, keep it as quickly as possible… Better not to promise at all than to make a promise and not keep it. Don’t let your own words lead you into sin.’ (Ecclesiastes 5:2–6 GNT)

That means don’t be impulsive, listen as much as you speak, get as much information as you can, then consult God in prayer before you make a commitment. People often say what they think others want to hear, but that can get them into a lot of trouble. Don’t promise something you can’t deliver. And don’t make excuses. Nothing diminishes your influence like trying to reverse a mistake with a lame excuse. When you make a commitment based on emotion, you will only follow through if you feel a certain way. True commitment doesn’t work like that. It’s not a feeling; it’s a character quality.

Human emotions constantly fluctuate, but commitment has to be rock solid. Real dedication shines through in times of trouble and adversity. It doesn’t depend on gifts or abilities, but on integrity. It’s a result of choice, not conditions. And it only lasts when it’s based on values. Bottom line: ‘Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.’ (Ecclesiastes 5:2 NKJV) So look before you leap, and think before you commit.

written by Bob Gass

 

[GodB4Us]

The other thing about commitments and promises is that it is a work of your hands by the promise you finished as you have to do all that proceeds out of your mouth. That means God cannot help you keep that commitment.

Numbers 30:22 If a man vow a 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.

Ecclesiastes 5:4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. 5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? 7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.

The problem with commitment to follow Christ or to make Him Lord of your life, there is no end to it to say you finished it. Most commitments these days are open ended and can never be truly finished, thus not paying what they vowed.

And yet I have seen how Christians judge other Christians by that commitment in condemning them as if they are not trying hard enough or they are fake believers or they came forward having their fingers crossed when they had done it.

And yet still I have seen Christian couples refusing to correct others even though they are not committing the same sins as those other Christians but by that commitment, they believe they have no right to correct others by.

And yet still Billy Graham made a commitment to follow Christ as the means for keeping it to gain assurance of salvation as that is the altar call he gives; "If you are not sure you are saved, make a commitment to follow Christ". So whatever happened to his gospel presentation prior to that altar call that "it is not going to church every Sunday that is going to save you. It is not keeping the ten commandments that is going to save you, It is all those who call upon the name of the Lord." ??? So Billy Graham's altar call is the opposite of the gospel he had preached. Open ended like that, is no wonder Billy Graham doubted he would be received by Jesus Christ in an interview with Tony Snow.

Tony Snow Interviews Billy Graham

SNOW: When you get to Heaven, who's going to speak first, you or God?

GRAHAM: When I get there, I'm sure that Jesus is going to say that he
will welcome me. But I think that he's going to say: Well done, our good
and faithful servant. Or he may say: You're in the wrong place.

SNOW: You really worry that you may be told you're in the wrong place?

GRAHAM: Yes, because I have not -- I'm not a righteous man. People put
me up on a pedestal that I don't belong in my personal life. And they
think that I'm better than I am. I'm not the good man that people think
I am. Newspapers and magazines and television have made me out to be a
saint. I'm not. I'm not a Mother Teresa. And I feel that very much.

By the deeds of the law, trying to keep that commitment to Christ, no flesh shall be justified for by the law of trying to keep a commitment or a promise to God is the knowledge of sin.

Are we as being Christians and doing good, the work of our hands or His?

Is it any wonder why Jesus spoke against making any vows, even swearing them t show sincerity in doing them.

Matthew 5:33 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 not 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. KJV

That is why the just shall live by faith in Jesus and His words to us that He will help us to follow Him when we trust Him as our Good Shepherd to do this as we are the work of His hands

Galatians 5:1Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.... 5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:... 11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

2 Timothy 4:18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Jude 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

Psalm 100:3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

So if any Christian out there find it hard to follow Him by keeping that commitment, ask Jesus to forgive you, and set you free, so you can find rest for your souls as you are saved since having believed in Him and you can follow Him by believing Him to be your personal Good Shepherd & Friend to help you to follow Him.

Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.