Honest to God
Ecclesiastes 5:6
“Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not tell the messenger that your vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?”
Verses four and five make it plain that this verse refers to keeping our word to God.
Years ago, I heard the story of a rich man riding on an airplane caught in turbulence. It grew so rough that the rich man finally prayed, “Lord, if you let me land safely, I will give you half of everything I have.”
In time, the plane landed. A preacher who had been behind him said to him, “I heard your prayer. As a preacher, I am here to collect.”
The rich man responded, “I guess you didn’t hear the rest of what I promised. I told Him that if He ever caught me on another plane, He could have it all.”
You could call that a promise to God that wasn’t kept, but that triviliazes the real meaning of this text.
The real meaning is that we ought to be honest with God. When we pledge to Him, we should keep it.
We pledge our hearts to God.
We pledge to serve Him.
We pledge to live as an example.
We pledge to trust Him.
We pledge to pray faithfully.
We pledge to worship faithfully.
Whenever, whatever, we pledge to God, — be honest to God.
I’m Lonnie Davis, and these are thoughts worth thinking.