March 19

We humans tend to make rash promises. Oh, our intentions are honorable. It’s our resolve that falters. We assure our friends we’ll help them move to the new home they’ve constructed, but when moving day arrives, we’re attending to another commitment. We tell our kids we’ll take them camping before we remember that the boss has scheduled a weekend session.

And it goes on. We mean well, but we’re over extended to start with and we can hardly keep track of ourselves. We do the same thing in the spiritual realm. When we come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ we fully intend to follow after Him in total surrender to His will and His plan for us.

As Psalm 119:44 affirms, “I will keep Your law continually,” so do we assert our commitment to lay aside our own will, our own waywardness, to follow hard after the law of the Lord and the furtherance of His plan. When we mouth the words, it is with the sincerest of intent to live our promise to the hilt.

But we have forgotten who we are and how we function. We’ve neglected to take into account the myriad failed promises we’ve left in our wake. How do we resolve this perplexity? We can’t do it on our own. We need the Holy Spirit. Thank God, Jesus promised to send Him to us—and HE keeps His word!