‘ “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. ‘ Matthew 5:33-37
As we work through the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest message ever preached, we are on the section about vows.
For a recap, if you haven’t been following this series, here are the links from the previous messages:
‘ “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. ‘
This will be a short message due to the nature of the meaning of this portion of the Sermon on the Mount.
Have you ever been in one of those conversations where you feel that the person is over-explaining their position? You know what I mean, where you ask what someone was supposed to do but didn’t do, followed by a rambling explanation of why it didn’t happen.
In this message, Jesus tells us to be brief with our answers. A simple “yes” or “no”. And not to make a promise that we know we may be unable to complete.
In today’s day and age, we feel threatened if we say no when being asked to do something. We don’t want to disappoint someone. The problem is we will over-commit ourselves and still disappoint the other person.
We should only say “yes” to the things we know we can complete. This will serve everyone involved because if we give the other person a false hope that we can do it, we don’t allow them to get someone else to do it, leaving them in a lurch.
In today’s culture, everyone is overloaded and needs help. The key here is make sure that we do not commit to something we may not be able to complete.
Heavenly Father, please help me make my “yes” yes and “no” no. Please don’t let me lead others into a false hope that I will do something for them only to let them down.
I pray, Lord, that You help me increase my capacity to help others by helping me improve my effectiveness and efficiency.
I thank You for Your grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!!
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