Promises

OLD TESTAMENT: Nehemiah 10-11

POETRY: Psalm 148

NEW TESTAMENT: John 20:10-18

Promises. 

I started learning about our cultural acceptance of the flexibility of “promises” when I was young: the revocability of a promise made with little crossed fingers, the lack of sincere meaning behind most promise rings given between teens, the recurring empty assurance that I could be Mario instead of Luigi the next time my friend and I would duel on her original Nintendo. 

Promises matter, from a pledge on the playground, to a contract with a company, to sacred words at a wedding. Unfortunately, we live in a shattered world laden with insincere, neglected, and forgotten promises. 

In Nehemiah, the Israelites came together to commit once again to following God. “The rest of the people…now join their fellow Israelites the nobles, and bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the Law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord our Lord.” (Neh 10:28-29) As we discussed yesterday, throughout history, the Jewish race had been in a wild, cyclical, on-again, off-again relationship with God. That which began with Jacob/Israel as a beautiful tapestry of covenant between Almighty God and his chosen people became interwoven with heartache, death, defeat, and slavery. But they vowed that, this time, they would follow God! (Spoiler alert: they would disobey yet again before this book even ends.)

God’s love to his people was a covenant, not a contract. A contract is a promise that one party will uphold their end of the agreement as long as the other side fulfills their responsibilities, while a covenant is a promise no matter what. God remained faithful even when his people were unfaithful, but they still had to face the consequences of their behavior. This covenant, originally for the Hebrews, has been renewed through Jesus to include the Gentiles as well. I am so grateful that we can all share in the hope God offers through Jesus! 

Our family strives to emphasize the importance of keeping promises. My husband Dan can often be heard reciting, “Let your yes be yes and your no be no” (Matthew 5:37). My 7 year old, when feeling slighted by an unmet expectation from his older brother, will object, “But your word is your promise!” Even children can understand the potential detriment of dishonored vows. 

As my son Gideon and I read from the Jesus Storybook Bible every night, he echoes the beautiful phrase that describes God’s covenant love in many of the stories: God’s “never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.”

Today, may you rest in the promise of God’s covenant love while you continue to seek Him in all you do. 

Similarities in today’s other readings: 

Psalm 148:6b: “God made a law that will not be broken.” God is a faithful God! 

John 20: Mary met the resurrected Jesus for the first time! His death and resurrection are amazing fulfillments of God’s prophecies and promise! 

-Rachel Cain

Reflections: 

* Create your own phrase to describe God’s covenant love, like the one I included from a children’s Bible above. Praise God for his covenant love!