Numbers 30:2 –
A man who makes a vow to the LORD or makes a pledge under oath must never break it. He must do exactly what he said he would do.
Oh how I wish this was more the norm for today’s culture. Of course that would mess me up royally since more than once I have “written a check my tail can’t cash” (Bo Diddly). How many times have we all said we were going to do something and didn’t? How many times have people said they were doing something that involved us and didn’t? Now imagine how many times this happens to God on a daily basis!
It hurts when this happens to you. You make plans or expect someone to do what they said and nothing happens. I don’t know where this got lost in today’s society or if it’s always been a problem, but either way people tend to over commit. That seems to be the biggest problem with keeping “vows” in our culture now. People have too many outside distractions and “balls in the air” at any given moment that they often forget when making a “vow”. Today we have way more things trying to occupy our time especially with 100+ TV channels, internet and gaming platforms, not to mention outside obligations.
Distractions are the single most destructive thing in our society today. We have so much to drag our attention away from God, family and friends. Think about Facebook alone and how it keeps us “connected” but at the same time detached. Many get distracted from the now, with updating status and checking others to see if they “tagged” you in a post. That is just the tip of the internet iceberg where distractions abound, from the most innocent to the self-destructive and it’s all there on your iPhone.
I think that’s where our ability to keep vows becomes an issue, life’s distractions. We just keep piling on until it’s impossible to keep up with our time or financial commitments. Is it just because we have hundreds of televisions channels, a world of information in our pockets, hectic jobs and obligations all over the place that we have no time for others much less God? The key is to simplify your life first so you can focus on the things that are important before they slip away. Also, it will make your “word” actually mean something because you will have time to honor that “word”.