QUICK STEPSಮಾದರಿ

QUICK PROMISES

I hope it’s not only me. Some of the most difficult situations I get myself into is often the result of promising or agreeing to a commitment too quickly. I love being able to help and contribute to other people’s lives. But my own life would be much easier if I took some time before signing up and then getting stuck in the end.

Peter would have been able to identify once again. His reflex reaction to Jesus’ prediction that all the disciples would desert Him, was to commit to an impossible task. “‘No!’, Peter declared emphatically. ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!’” (Mark 14:31, NLT). But we know how this promise turned out.

We don’t read much about the other disciples’ desertion of Jesus. Just one general sentence covers all of them together as a group. “Then all the disciples deserted him and ran away” (Mark 14:50, NLT). We also don’t see them having to repent about it as deeply as Peter did after Jesus’ resurrection (John 21). The difference is in the promise that was made and broken.

I often find it difficult to recognize the difference between taking time before committing and making up an excuse. Perhaps because we’re too often on the other side of the conversation. When someone tells me they will “think about it”, it most often means an easy way out. Hence, my eagerness to answer right away. And it is no surprise that previous commitments and logistical issues often get in the way of keeping well-intended promises.

Do your good intentions sometimes get in the way of keeping a promise? How do you feel when you’re unable to keep a commitment that you made too quickly?

Let us work at being honorable even if it feels like we’re disappointing the people around us. And let us still be willing to serve others while taking a bit of time before we commit. “Don't make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God… It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it” (Ecclesiastes 5:2-5, NLT).