SCRIPTURE
12 What can I offer the Lord
for all he has done for me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and praise the Lord’s name for saving me.
14 I will keep my promises to the Lord
in the presence of all his people
Psalm 116:12-14
OBSERVATION
The psalmist answers one of the most important questions we have in our relationship with God. How can be thankful for everything God has done in us and for us? The two-fold answer is very simple: we worship Him, and we keep our promises to Him. Sounds easy, but it's not, especially the second part. Keeping our promises to God is one of the most difficult things to do because we are by nature unfaithful. We make rush vows with our emotions, but we don't follow up with actions. We are inconsistent in what we say and what we do. But if we want to be thankful to God, we need to learn how to keep our promises and fulfill our vows before Him.
APPLICATION
One of the greatest inventions of the last century has to be the alarm clock. Because of it, we can get up on time and we can steward our time better. But somehow, someone came along with another idea that ruined the potential of the alarm clock - the snooze button. Why would someone sabotage the alarm clock that way an add a device that every 9 minutes will give us an excuse to change our minds? This invention illustrates how our human nature works as we build a relationship with God. In our desire to follow Him, we make promises and we embrace new disciplines. We get the alarm clock to remind us about our new commitments. But then, once the alarm rings and rocks our world, we find an excuse not to do what we set our hearts to do. We snooze our original desires for growth, we postpone action and change, and we sabotage our own progress. If we are truly serious about following God and about fulfilling our vows to the Lord, we must learn how to ignore and avoid snoozing.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, how silly and counterproductive I am when I snooze your instructions for me. Please forgive me for not being serious in my commitments to you. Teach me how to ignore the many excuses I can make to sabotage my own progress. Give me a true desire to be quick to listen and obey your ways. let me live always thankful to you. Amen.
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