Day 19 of 49
Yes and No
“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’
But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
Mt 5:33-37.
One day I came home to a big pile of lumber in the backyard. When I asked Norm about it he said that he had promised our son a skateboard ramp. When he agreed, he thought Rob was talking about one of the small jumps…but his drawn up plan was a halfpipe. We did try to live with the “Let your yes be yes and your no, no”, so Norm and Rob built the halfpipe and we learned to ask more questions before agreeing to anything.
As a kid, we would make promises with our fingers crossed, because that negated any promise we made. The Pharisees played the same game with oaths. They had levels of oath keeping. If one swore by heaven, one was required to keep the oath. But is one swore by the earth, that oath could be dismissed. They worded their oaths in such a way as to be able to break them.
Making a vow or taking an oath was not required in the Law. But if one took a vow or oath, then they were required to keep it.
“If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.
But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin.
You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.
Dt 23:21–23.
Jesus said it was best not to make a vow. We really don’t know what is going to happen from day to day, and if we make a promise…we may be physically unable to do it.
He explained that any oath made in the name of anything on earth remained a valid oath, because of God’s hand in all creation.
Generally we feel the need to make a promise when others doubt our integrity.
If we say we are going to do something, do it. If we say we are not going to do something, don’t do it. If we mess up, then we need to fess up and apologize.
It seems like such a simple thing, to keep our word, but it carries a big impact on those around us.
Lord, help me to walk in integrity with the people around me. Give me wisdom about commitments I make to others. When I say I will do something or go somewhere, help me to follow through.
Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.
Tt 2:7–8.
TRICIA LATHROP 