1 Samuel 1:11 “She made a vow and said, ‘O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.’”

VOWS

Have you ever begged God for something?  I mean, really beg?  Perhaps your son or daughter fell ill and the doctors couldn’t figure out why, so you made God a vow.  You promised Him you would do whatever He asked, if only He would heal your child.  We get desperate in times of trials, don’t we?

Hannah was desperate for a child.  She promised to dedicate her son to the Lord.  She followed through on that promise, and thus, we have Samuel.  Samuel grew to be a great man of God who helped lead the nation of Israel for years.  But it all started with a mother’s vow.

TEACHING MOMENT

Children make promises.  Sometimes they make crazy promises that they cannot keep.  Teaching our children about promises is important.  My father taught me to keep my word.  He always said your reputation is built on keeping your word.  I haven’t always done that, unfortunately.  But I have learned the importance of that life principle.

As parents, we need to coach our children in the skill of promise keeping.  They need to be taught how to make an appropriate promise, one they can keep.  They need to be taught the importance of keeping that promise.  How do we teach that?  By being a promise keeper ourselves.  Ouch!  Yep, we have to keep our promises, too.

What promise have you made lately out of desperation?  Did you really intend to keep it?  Were you just begging?  God does remember our vows.  He won’t make us keep them, but He also won’t allow us to escape the consequences.  He is a loving God, but He is also just.  Words mean things.

Of course, the most important vow we can make is the one to follow Him.  And the beauty of that vow is that God will help us keep it.  He will provide us the Helper, the Holy Spirit, to indwell and empower us.  He will give us the how-to manual, His Word, to instruct us.  And He will walk with us every step.

I vow today, Father, to follow You.  Use me how You want to use me.