COSTLY FULFILLMENT OF VOWS. By Pastor Fernando

Scripture:
And she said, “Father, if you have made a vow to the Lord, you must do to me what you have vowed, for the Lord has given you a great victory over your enemies, the Ammonites.
Judges 11:36

Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High.
Psalm 50:14

Observation:
Jephthah’s only daughter is one of my favorite teenagers in the Scripture. She is willing to die in order to see her father’s vows to the Lord fulfilled. She doesn’t try to get away from it, but she faces death with courage and devotion. Where does she gets this kind of character from? Her father was a godly man and he passed that godliness to his only daughter. Jephthah, even though he was the son of a prostitute, he knew the law of Moses, he was a man of integrity, and fulfilled his vows to the Lord. In this situation, he made a rushed vow that cost him his only daughter. But this family was made up of people of honor and integrity. They could have place the whole thing under the carpet, but they didn’t. They could have even plead to the Lord and I think God would have understand their plea and maybe grant her a pardon. They didn’t! They went through this sacrifice with amazing courage!

Application:
Rush vows are unnecessary, but once they are made, they need to be fulfilled. Sometimes we just get used to put our broken promises under the rug. We take for granted that God is merciful and we continue through life violating our own vows. This is one of the vicious cycles that we need to stop in our lives. We need to be people of integrity that will do what we say, especially if we promised it to God. I need to inspect my heart and look under the rug. What kind of broken promises do I find there? I need to be courageous, face the consequences of my promises, and trust the Lord to help me become a promise keeper, even if it cost me my reputation and my life.

Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, the greatest vow of all is the promise of obedience to the leadings of your Holy Spirit. I believe that I must look under my rug and fulfill broken vows from the past. Let me be a man of integrity that always fulfills his promises to you and to others, even if it cost me much! Amen!