I love the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel. She wanted a child so badly she cried out to God. She made a vow to God that if He would give her a son she would give him back to God for the rest of his life. And she did!!
When the child was weaned - still just a toddler - she took him to the temple and gave him to Eli to serve him there. She only got to see him once a year when the family went on their annual pilgrimage to the temple to sacrifice their offerings to the Lord.
This story always makes me think about all the flippant vows I used to make with no real intention of ever fulfilling my part. Those...God if you'll just get me out of this jam, help me through this hard place, cause this person or that person to be in my life, then I will go to church every Sunday, give more money to the church, stop doing whatever I was doing wrong.
Over the years I have had to repent of a lot of stupidity, a lot of failings in this area. Oh, God, if You would..., then I will... because He did but I didn't. God takes vows very seriously. I have learned that they are a sacred trust between me and God and keeping your word - your vow - to God is more important than just about anything. The father of lies is the devil and there is nothing about lying to God that can ever be viewed with anything but remorse.
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