Simply Speaking

Matthew 5:33-37 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”
 
JESUS makes life so simple doesn’t he? How important it is to be and to do what you say. Jesus teaches, “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’.” to keep your life in the simplest terms. In essence, speak with integrity. You don’t have to make lavish oaths or “swear on a stack of Bibles” as some say to prove they speak the truth. To say, “I swear to God.” profanes God’s name and his creation. God forbids you to take his name casually and vainly, using it in a useless manner. Jesus adds meaning to God’s law as he tells us not to swear on anything God has made on earth or in heaven. Is there anything else?
   Do you need to promise someone? Then simply make the promise, and then do what you say. Do you need to convince someone you speak the truth? Then do as you say. Do want to be known as an honest person? Then do what you say. Do you want people to know Jesus? Then do as Jesus says. One of the greatest challenges in the church and in our families is people failing to live into their words. There is a reason the church is too often accused of hypocrisy.
      Act right in the teaching of God’s Word, and you will live into God’s true ways. You will live abundantly confident, at peace with God because you are true to God and to others.
 
Ecclesiastes 5:4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the [temple] messenger, “My vow was a mistake.”  Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?