Our Promises

When I was a freshman many years ago, we had to go through an initiation party on the first Friday of our entry into high school. The seniors were all too willing to make fun of us on this day, and then at a high school dance that night. Letting us know that as freshmen we were at the bottom of the totem pole at school. The principal kept the initiation within reason, and it was a lot of good natured fun; though many of us freshmen had a lot of our pride taken away. At my high school initiation dance, all the freshman boys were required to wear a lady’s nightgown (old flannel one over our shirt and jeans), wash our hair and not comb it, and write a love letter for a senior girl. This letter had to be read aloud to any senior girl who requested us to read it to them.

Paraphrasing a joke I saw in a magazine and trying to be sarcastic, my love letter went something like this:

Dear love of my life,

You are the reason for my existence, you control my heart. There is nothing I would not do to have a moment with you. There is no mountain high enough, no stream strong enough, nor ocean deep enough to keep me from your side. I would walk over burning embers without a complaint, to gaze into your beautiful eyes. I would fight raging tigers for the touch of your hand on mine. I would face any danger the world could throw at me for one sweet kiss from your lips. I would give my life to protect you and keep you safe from all harm.

I am yours forever.

P.S. I will try and make it over tomorrow night to see you if it isn’t raining; do not want to get my new shoes wet.

Sometimes we treat our relationship with our Lord in the same manner. It is so easy to make promises, especially when carried away by emotions. But it is very hard to bring them into the reality of the world, our everyday life. We add many P.S.’s to our promises or commitments as we strive to implement them.

I will spend more time with the Lord. - P.S. as long as it fits into my busy schedule.

I will tell my friends about Jesus. - P.S. as long as it is the right situation and I won’t embarrass myself in front of others.

I will only watch movies and television shows with Christian values. - P.S. some of the good shows only have a few bad parts, so one can overlook them because the rest of the content is good.

I will take time to have devotions with my children. - P.S. as long as it can fit in with their homework, sports, and other activities.

I will give to the Lord and those less fortunate. - P.S. as long as it does interfere with me living a pleasurable life.

I will stand up for my God when others belittle Him, make jokes about my best friend, use His name in profanity, or defame Him in any other way. - P.S. surely this means only when the majority of people around agree with me, otherwise it is better to ignore the situation.

I love the Lord more than anything else, and will give up everything to follow Him. - P.S. Surely the Lord wants me to faithfully take care of myself and my family first. And then live a “Christian lifestyle” for all to see how it is done. If any is left over after this it should be given to our God.

I will give my life before denying my Savior - P.S. This means one should be willing to fight for our beliefs, but we must be rational. If we give up our lives for Jesus, how can we promote His work anymore, or give money to support it. We must be flexible with the situation and act accordingly. (See YouTube; “I Am Not Ashamed” about the Columbine School occurrence)

We all P.S. the Lord in our own ways, and find excuses to rationalize our behavior. But it all boils down to the love, faith, and trust we have for our God.

There are no easy answers to many of the situations we face. Many times when we are around others who are doing things which our God would not have us do; it is better to leave, politely letting them know that our God would not want us to do what they are doing. There will also be those who will constantly ridicule or tease us because we follow Jesus and sometimes it is better to disengage from them, than get into a verbal fight with them, which can turn to anger. Calmly tell them that you follow Jesus and this is only going to turn into a heated argument, with no one winning; if you want to politely discuss my Christian beliefs with me I will be glad to discuss the Bible with you. Then no matter how crude they are, we should always pray afterwards to our Heaven Father, that He would send the Holy Spirit to those who are involved; so they can be brought to the love and truth of our God.

Yet we must always stand up for Jesus, lovingly let people know that He is our best friend; no matter what cost, not being part of the popular crowd, losing a relationship, being isolated from others. And some even will lose our lives rather than abandon our Savior.

The only way we can accomplish this is to get rid the idea of what “I” can do; and realize we are unable to do anything on our own; that only Jesus can give us the strength to overcome this world.

* I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Jn 16:33 ESV+

That we must let the Holy Spirit put the thoughts in our hearts and the words on our lips. So we can lovingly, patiently, explain the truths about our great God.

*This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 1Co 2:13 NIV+

Using verses from the Word of God, so our Heavenly Father can directly tell us what He would have us do. For with God all things are possible.

* But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matt 19:26 ESV+

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+ ESV “Scripture quotations marked [ESV] are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version,” copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good New Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

Some words in the verses from these Bibles may be emphasized with bold letters.