Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 78 verses 9 though 11:
9 The Ephraimites, armed with[b] the bow,
turned back on the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God's covenant,
but refused to walk according to his law.
11 They forgot his works
and the wonders that he had shown them.
And Matthew chapter 5 verses 33 through 37:
33 ‘Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.” 34But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37Let your word be “Yes, Yes” or “No, No”; anything more than this comes from the evil one.
Fall is upon us and we are coming into the season when many churches and many non-profits ask for commitments to their organizations for the coming year. This is the time when we are asked to make our pledges.
We ought not to make them lightly.
Learning to let our "yes" be yes and "no" be no is a part of becoming faithful disciples. Pledge season helps us to think on how much we want to give, how much we should be willing to give, how much we say we're willing to give, and how much we are actually going to give. When all those things are equal then our giving truly has integrity.
God is not impressed with unfulfilled pledges. Neither is the head of the food bank, nor the administrator at the homeless shelter, nor the executive at the local Boy's Club.
And neither is the pastor.
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