Jeremiah 35:18-19 “18 Then Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, kept all his commands and done according to all that he commanded you;” 19therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me always.”‘”

KEEP YOUR WORD

Keeping your word is important. Nothing can get you in trouble faster than turning your back on a promise to someone. In this passage Rechab had covenanted with the Lord to not drink wine, nor would his offspring. (You really need to read the whole 35^th chapter). He kept his word, and now in the latter years his offspring still kept it.

TEACHING MOMENT

I am sure you have heard your children make promises to their friends or siblings. “Come on Gertrude. If you let me ride your bike, I will…” Or “I promise I won’t tell Dad.” I particularly liked hearing that as I walked into the room. Lol.

But making promises to people is one thing. Covenanting with a Holy God is another. We have “cut covenant” with Him through the acceptance of His Son, Jesus, as our personal Lord and Savior. We have accepted all that He has to give in exchange for our life. Yes, our very life. We have surrendered all to Him. We do not have the right to take it back. It belongs to Him.

We must teach our children the importance of keeping their word. We must teach them the importance of daily surrender to Christ. We must teach how to give all to Him in exchange for everything. Just think about it – our all for His everything. I think we are getting the better deal, don’t you?

So today, as you go through your day, when you confronted with the challenge of making a promise to someone, make sure you can keep it. Then keep it. God is a promise keeper. So should we be.