Scripture Reading—Psalm 76:11-12
“Vow, and pay unto the Lord your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared.” (Psalm 76:11)
The Hebrew word nadar means “to promise, to vow, to make a vow. It is the act of verbally consecrating to God. In other words, vowing to perform something (Genesis 28:20-22), making an offering (Leviticus 27) or abstaining from something out of devotion to God.” (Information taken from The Hebrew Greek Key Study Bible)
My child, you are living in an indifferent and careless generation which does not want to assume the burdens and responsibilities that come with making a vow to Me. So they misquote My words which I spoke in Matthew (Matthew 23:16) to rebuke a flippant custom of speech that was similar to curses uttered by the ungodly today who say, “By God,” “By Heaven,” “So help me God.” To use My Name in vain, without any respect, is sin. My Name is to be honoured.
But it is not a sin to make a vow to Me concerning either yourself, your child, your home or of anything you possess, for all you have was given to you by Me. I gave it yesterday and I can take it away tomorrow, so to give it back to Me is only rational.
To make a vow means simply to make a promise of yourself or something you have or expect to have to Me What is wrong with giving Me your life? You should have done this when you gave Me your heart. Or did you only give Me your heart with a consenting of your mind, while you have all the time refused in your heart to give Me your life?
There are those of My children who say that to make a vow is a sin. If this were true, then Hannah sinned when she vowed to give Me the son who was not yet in her womb (I Samuel 1:11). Then also did Abraham when he exacted a vow from his servant, Eliezer (Genesis 24:3), Jacob (Genesis 28:20), Israel (Numbers 21:2), Paul (Acts 18:18) and some of My early Christians (Acts 21:23) sin.
A vow is simply a promise. When you make a promise to men, you often break it, but when you make it to Me, it is a sacred promise; therefore it is also binding. That is why I said, “When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee” (Deuteronomy 23:21).
And again, in Ecclesiastes 5:4, I said, “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.”
When I said to My Father, “Lo, I come” it was a vow to do all His will. That vow which I made before I came to earth, gave Me strength to carry the cross and to be crucified upon it (Psalm 40:7).
The vows you make to God will give you strength to do the will of God in your life. Without these vows you have no strength to live the consecrated life.
This careless, irresponsible generation does not want to assume the responsibility of making a vow to Me. It makes many promises to itself, but none to Me, and then it covers its indifference and lack of love and in fidelity by misinterpreting My Scriptures. But if you would please Me, rise up and make a vow unto Me this day, even now, as My Spirit is upon you, and I shall give you strength to fulfill the vow you make unto Me.
Day by Day by Gwen Shaw
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