The PROMISE!

 

Do people make promises any more? I have found that even the most sacred of promises, marriage, is no longer that sacred. Of course, this is nothing new. This is not a blog on the vailidity of divorce or a criticism of those who do divorce their spouse. But, the lack of making and KEEPING promises is a real problem and modern marriage is a symptom of our inability to follow through with our word. Barna research says the trend among young people is something called SERIAL MARRIAGES. Here is what Barna is saying:

“There is also evidence that many young people are moving toward embracing the idea of serial marriage, in which a person gets married two or three times, seeking a different partner for each phas of their adult life.” [1]

That is so frightening. How do you make the pledge of marriage? Do you leave out the part “as long as we both shall live” and replace it with I promise to stand by your side for this phase of my life” or maybe you say, “I will make this commitment until our children reach the age of 18?”

Stephanie and I have been married for 46, going on 47 years. Our commitment is a lifelong commitment and we value our promise to each other more than nearly everything else in our life. The ONLY promise higher than our commitment to each other is our promise to LOVE and Follow the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Our commitment to Christ is a two way promise. God has promised me eternal life and he has promised to be by my side throughout my entire life. He has promised NEVER TO LEAVE OR FORSAKE ME. I trust his promise and am fully devoted to him. 

As I was reading Romans 9 this morning, I was captivated by the use of the phrase “Children of the Promise.” As far as I can tell this is the only place that phrase is used:

“This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.)” (Romans 9:8, NLT)

WE who have chosen to follow Jesus ARE CHILDREN OF THE PROMISE. When we decided to follow Jesus and trust in him, we joined Abraham’s family, we join ISRAEL,= and we are full heirs to the kingdom. Isn’t that exciting. All the rights, privileges, and promises made by God to the children of Abraham are now OURS! AND GOD ALWAYS FOLLOWS THROUGH WITH HIS PROMISES. 

We should never doubt that commitment the Lord has made to us. HE IS FAITHFUL. His word is faithful and true and I treasure the scriptures; I treasure the time I get to spend with the Lord in prayer and I treasure the time I get to worship him as King of all Kings!

“They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He he made the covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises” (Romans 9:4, NLT)

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23, NLT)

[1] - https://www.barna.com/research/new-marriage-and-divorce-statistics-released/